Without Consent (1994)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I consider myself the world's most obsessed lunatic regarding this tiny little TV movie. I've been searching for the DVD for years. Also under alternative title TRAPPED AND DECEIVED. Coming up empty all the time, I had to resort to downloading it from the Net and having it converted to disc, which is sure to irk somebody off, but what else to do? It's a little TV movie that gets shunted aside and will never get a proper release, yet it features... princess Jenny... the rising young starlet (lovely droolworthy thing) of BEVERLY HILLS 90210 and believe me she was what made that show worth watching, screw Brandon et al. Surprisingly, with flaws and all, this is quite a good TV movie. Perhaps better characterization for the mother's part would have saved the script, as there is some holes here. But as far as Jennie is concerned, wow, you did great, kid.Now if only some miracle could take place with a proper DVD release, because my homemade copy looks shabby and bleak and is about as much fun as a sick puppy. But what price decent family entertainment after all? Here you have something that I wouldn't normally go for, a story that grandma would watch as well, and there's no way it would get released 20 years later.A must for all Jennie Garth fans!

I saw this movie when it first came out, and though since then, I taped it, my tape is getting old and worn out, so I really hope that it is released on DVD soon!I saw this movie when it came out in 1994, and it is chilling to the bone in its eerily (sp?) portrayal of these so-called "treatment" facilities. Every time I've watched it, I just want to scream, and throw things at the awful, evil people at the psych facility, and I cheered as loud as I could when Laura managed to break out and escape!It's a sad yet realistic look at what truly goes on behind the closed, locked doors of these "treatment centers, and psychiatric hospitals. It's about time that movies like "Without Consent", "Dancing in the Dark", "What Kind of Mother Are You??" and "On the Edge of Innocence" expose the reality of these places. It is just SICKENING how innocent people who have done NOTHING other than be unfortunate enough to be afflicted with medical conditions like depression, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, are treated WORSE than convicted CRIMINALS in PRISON!Even a mass murderer like Timothy McVeigh had more rights, and privileges both while awaiting trial, as well as when he was on Federal Death Row, than even psychiatric patients are afforded, under the guise of "treatment", and "protection". The mental health care system needs to be totally re-vamped! This movie is a chilling look at the pure injustice that occurs in today's psychiatric facilities. Laura Mills (played by Jennie Garth) is a rebellious and wayward teenager when her parents, Michelle and Robert (played by Jill Eikenberry and Tom Irwin) decide to admit her to an adolescent treatment center, run by an evil psychopath (who should be locked up and given a good taste of his own medicine - no pun intended!)called Dr. Winslow (played BRILLIANTLY by Paul Sorvino)Dr. Winslow and his staff treat Laura and the other patients worse than criminals, and at one point, Laura even manages to break out, with the help of other patients, and she escapes only to go home to find out that Dr. Winslow is there too, and has lied to her parents, and convinced them to trick/force Laura into going back. When Laura refuses to return to the facility, Dr. Winslow, showing his true nature threatens Laura into compliance. Meanwhile another patient at the hospital, Marty (played WONDERFULLY by Johnny Galecki) is a depressed and suicidal young man, who is hospitalized in the treatment center only as long as there is insurance coverage. The moment it runs out, he is discharged. He is just pretty much kicked out the door and left to fend for himself without any treatment or follow-up care, and as a result he ends up taking his own life.Finally after being convinced to talk to Nora Fields a lawyer who specializes in abuses in the mental health care system, Mr. and Mrs. Mills finally come to their senses and realize what a scam these psychiatric treatment centers are. After a struggle they are eventually able to extricate Laura from their evil clutches. Unfortunately the relationship between Laura Mills and her parents have been severely damaged by this ordeal, and soon after her return home she moves out, to go and live with her brother who is also estranged from their parents. As the movie ends, there is hope for an eventual reconciliation, as Michelle and Robert slowly tries to to rebuild their relationship with their children. A WONDERFUL MOVIE! A CHILLING MUST-SEE LOOK AT THE MENTAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM! BRING THIS TO DVD, PLEASE!!

'Without Consent' is a movie that shows what really goes on in 'correctional facilities.' The plot is good and has good writing to back it up. Also, casting Jennie Garth in a lead role was a good choice.The film provides good acting from everyone but especially from the main actress, Garth. She can really portray an out of control teen who then suffers while staying in a prison like facility. She can lose her temper, but in a good way to make it really believable that she is going through pure torture. Jennie Garth was perfect for the role and it wouldn't have been as good of a movie if a different actress had tried to play the character of Laura. Eric Close plays Laura's brother. He isn't given a lot of screen time or lines, but for the part that he is given, he makes the most of it. The actors who play Laura's parents are excellent. Sure, they are main characters and need to be shown because of the story line, but they aren't given too much exposure to either. But once again, the two play their parts as best as they can and it makes the movie better. Other characters such as Marty, C.J., Rachel, the doctor and all of the others are played by great actors. The casting department did a terrific job with this film.Other than the acting, the plot is also great. Somebody has finally shown what really goes on behind locked doors. Hopefully this movie has convinced parents to not necessarily believe what they might hear from the people who run places like these. The writing is nice. Not too much work was put into it but the actions are better.All in all this is one of the better TV movies. Definitely watch this if it comes on television in the near future.