The Poison Rose


The Poison Rose is a 2019 American thriller film starring John Travolta and Morgan Freeman. The film was directed by George Gallo and Francesco Cinquemani. It was written by Richard Salvatore, Francesco Cinquemani, and Luca Giliberto, based on Salvatore's novel of the same title.
The film was released on May 24, 2019 by Lionsgate.
The film received the best directing international award at the Terre di Siena Film Festival.

Plot

Carson Phillips is a private investigator, who is called to investigate a case in his hometown in Texas. He is looking for Barbara Poole, a patient gone missing. Upon reaching the mental facility where she is supposed to be, he notices that the staff all looked nervous when he asks for her. Dr. Miles, the head doctor there, says that he does not know where she is.
He meets up with his ex, Jayne, and their daughter, Becky. Becky is married to the star quarterback, Happy. One night during a game, Happy suddenly dies and the police strongly suspect Becky. Jayne asks Carson for help.
Becky was being abused by Happy, but since he was the star quarterback, the police would not arrest him. Dr. Miles, the doctor at the mental facility, was killing off his patients, Barbara Poole included, and collecting their social security money. Carson uncovers the truth and Dr. Miles is shot dead by one of the patients.
Carson and Jayne reconcile and he finds a bottle of cancer pills. This same substance was found in Happy's blood. He accuses her of "doing anything to protect her daughter" and realizes that she was the one who poisoned Happy. Becky comes out and asks her if she did it. At first Jayne denies everything, but then admits that she thought that Happy would kill Becky and since she herself did not have long to live, no one would be left to protect her daughter. Becky forgives her.
The movie ends with Carson stating that he was going to go home, then realized he is home, implying he stayed with his ex and daughter instead of going back to Los Angeles.

Cast

Production

was previously in talks to portray Dr. Mitchell before Brendan Fraser assumed the role.
Principal photography took place in Savannah, Georgia, in June 2018 and continued in Italy after the summer.

Release

The film was released on May 24, 2019 by Lionsgate. The film was dedicated in memory of Steve and Geraldine Salvatore, the parents of Richard Salvatore, who wrote the novel, The Poison Rose.

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 3.35/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 30 out of 100, based on four critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".