...There are still unexpected turns a story can take. This movie is very much one of those films that feels like something written for live theater transcribed to film- it could be seen live, and it would have (possibly even more) impact. Some of the story is inevitable, and easily guessed. But SO MUCH of it isn't. I've never watched or read something that handled these topics so well, and so viscerally expressed the extreme feelings. The dialogue is a little (necessarily) heavy, and as far as characters go, the level of confidence (even boozed up) the main character has at 19, and her conversational style are definitely out of place. But that is a minor thing to get passed- the rest of it has you leaning in to make sure you catch the dialogue, and searching each face for clues. Honestly, this felt like a novel more than a movie- in the best possible way. It's surprising, it goes places you don't anticipate (even after watching the movie trailer), and it is INCREDIBLY refreshing to see the more complex nuances of personalities and world views play out. This is really a unique film, and I cannot believe it's not talked about more. One of what I feel the greatest qualities of this is the "choose-your-own-adventure" quality to the plot- there is a constant question mark over anything either person says, because both world views would make lying justified. But regardless, the details (much like one of the characters observes early on) feel too true: Someone experienced this agony at some point. Maybe just through second-or-third-hand information. But it feels very real. The only reason it's 9 and not 10 is due to the dialogue being more nuanced and mature than I would expect of a 19-year-old, as well as some frustration with the ending- hoping for a little more than what happened. (Obviously, as I've stated before, my rating system is totally idiosyncratic and meant only for myself; I hold "plot" based material to a far higher standard than horror, and so horror will always appear over-represented- however, this is far better than the vast majority of the 8-10 movies I've rated). But I felt like writing this review because this movie made me feel things, and I was mesmerized by it within twenty minutes.
