Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story (2019) Reviews

• Nellie Bly

  unonjacke2019-01-20

  The tragedy of Lifetime's presentation of Nellie Bly's story of her time in the insane asylum on Blackwell's Island is that reality of what happened to her and chronicalled in her book '10 Days in the Madhouse' is far more interesting than the fictionalized account presented in the film. What Nellie Bly did was remarkable and lead to significant reforms in the way things were done. Truth is frequently more interesting than fiction.

• The most fictional bio I've ever seen

  micalclark2019-01-20

  Somehow Lifetime took a courageous, strong willed, highly intelligent journalist who risked her life going undercover to expose a broken mental health system ... and turned her into an amnesia victim with a contrived romance to her psychiatrist who needed another lover to swoop in at the last minute to rescue her. Nellie Bly is rolling over in her grave. The only reason this isn't one star is that some of performers did a decent job in their roles. Pretty sure the writers and director never read Bly's book or any other bio that did any research at all on the subject. Maybe got their info from Wikipedia and made up the rest to turn this into an almost entirely fictional story.

• Good enough

  alyssafflovex2019-01-20

  The best part of this movie was the fact that it made me go look up Nellie Bly and try and learn what really happened. The acting was decent and it was entertaining. I am disappointed, after learning what a bad ass Nellie Bly was, that the creators went the "damsel in distress" route. Nonetheless, a good watch for this snowy day.

• Watchable and historically inaccurate

  johnbins-117-3966942019-01-21

  Made by Lifetime TV, "Television for Women." But, unfortunately, the facts about the courageous Nellie Bly and her fight for patient rights are not a part of tis film. Watchable.

• A 10 star movie.

  fuzzylogic-001132019-01-20

  I'm shocked at the 3 reviews so far, since I found this movie to be mesmerizing. I couldn't leave the room, even during commercials, because I was afraid I'd miss something. Wonderful acting, especially by Judith Light and Christina Ricci.. It's a movie I'll definately watch again.