Heartbreak Hospital (2002)

A struggling actress gets more than she bargained for when she finally gets her shot at fame and fortune in Swiss director Rudolph Gerber's 2002 debut film Heartbreak Hospital. After countless unsuccessful auditions, Neely (Chelsea Altman) and her boyfriend, Tonio (Damian Bichir), decide to leave it all behind, tie the knot, and head for Mexico. Fate intervenes, however, when Neely arrives at one last audition -- only to land a role on the soap opera "Heartbreak Hospital." While initially intended as a very short-term part -- that of a comatose patient -- the soap opera's viewership embraces the character, thus expanding Neely's role to a recurring one. Quickly orienting herself to her new job -- which has the unfortunate side effect of distancing her from Tonio, effectively killing their marriage plans -- Neely soon discovers the rest of the cast of "Heartbreak Hospital" to be a bunch of nutballs, with more than one of the longtime cast members turning out to be pyschopaths. When leading actress Sunday (Diane Venora) -- who was also one of the aforementioned nutballs -- turns up dead, Tonio quickly becomes the chief suspect. Neely begins to question his guilt -- as well as her treatment of him after winning the part -- but she must act quickly in order to help him out of this fix.