| C- | Austin Film Festival 2026 |
I truly, truly disliked this script (based on an off-Broadway play originally written by one of the three screenwriters). Honestly, I have zero idea what motivated any of the three main characters, none of whom behaved in any way I could justify. But it set up some conflicts and tension, i guess?
I can’t even say, “All of this could have been avoided if they’d just called the cops in the first place.” Yes, that would have avoided the main narrative we were following, which barely went anywhere, but would not have avoided the main incidents, all of which happened in the past and eventually were told through flashbacks, except they initially were told as part of a novel the mom was writing which we all assume from the context was based on real events, but later shifted to pure flashbacks. Oh, and have you ever seen a search party for a missing person walk mostly in a straight line, front to back, instead of fanning out width-wise to cover more ground?
I have more complaints, but I’ll stop there.
On the plus side, this was a first-time feature by this director and she directed it well. And the acting was good, given the source material. It didn’t quite make me want to leave the theater, but I was so highly frustrated with these characters…
I was going to provide a counterpoint by linking to someone else’s positive review, but all I’m seeing are industry puff pieces that this movie is coming soon. Since its world premiere was at AFF, I guess it’s too early for reviews to be out yet…
