Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

OpinionSoup The tale resolves around escalating tit-for-tat retaliations between a mother and a young woman with antisocial tendencies. I bought this for NZ$5 from a bargain bin. As such I was initially pleasantly surprised. A bit of kink, a bit of drama. It is true that there were some plot holes and unconvincing character transitions but it still could have been good fun. Towards the end it presented what I found a quite amusing possible alternative resolution that potentially tied together some of the questions raised quite neatly. The questions I am referring to are, What was the actual core of the boy's trauma, had the mother lost sight of her desire to protect him in seeking revenge, and could the girl ever escape her situation with just $180 of 'life savings' Unfortunately there is apparently a handbook of inescapable clichés out there that escalating revenge dramas can only end with the obvious tragedy that leaves the protagonist looking mournfully into the camera and teaches us that escalating revenge is bad. The ending that was added to restore this cliché is described in the blurb as 'enigmatic' and 'profoundly unsettling after-effect'. I just found it annoying.

Jeremy I want 2 hours of my life back. This movie, though well acted, descends into totally illogical plot lines, as if the family portrayed were in withdrawal from crack cocaine. One asks, as in the other comment, why the police were not called. But totally unbelievable is how a mother knocks into unconsciousness a teenage girl in a shopping mall complex and suddenly has her waking in an office tied to a door - didn't anyone notice mum dragging the body through the mall? I think this film is the result of the ascendancy of intellectual conceptualists hijacking top positions in Australia's creative colleges (in the late 1970's till today), at the expense of mortar and brick craftmaking. Creativity is not some engagement where a concept, however illogical, stands on it's own merit. The Director claims the movie got rave reviews all over Oz and the world. Either she exaggerates, or film critics are brain dead. The writer (who played the father in the film) claims the story comes from a previous writer and it seems they had a difference of opinion and parted ways before production began. What a shame - I'm sure the original script could not have been worse than the revised one. Though well acted, film is badly wrought, directed and edited, and the DVD should become a worthy beer coaster in a caravan in Woop Woop.

miss_casey_lou For an australian theatre, this film does not let the audience down. At first, the film seems choppy, confusing and badly thought out, but as the movie goes on and the plot thickens, everything falls into place. Brilliant acting by the two female leads, Anna Lise Phillips (rachel) and Linda Cropper (kate). The office scene is amazing, almost 10 minutes of pure tension and anger, mostly conveyed through prolonged silences. That is the mark of great acting, when you can create the most powerful scene in the movie without talking much. Some of the choices that the characters make are quite confusing though, and if you get it on DVD i strongly reccomend you watch it with Directors comments, although sometimes the two narrators go off on a tangent. This film is more dark and sinister than a lot of thrillers, and explores whats behind all the closed doors, what goes on behind the scenes and what people are thinking and how they might react when someone they are close to is raped. Granted, they might not go to such extremes as Kate, but still, its a interesting movie nonetheless.May I also say the pool and shopping centre are from my home town in Sydney! Gave me the shock of my life to see the blue 'sky' from my local shopping center in the place where i grew up, seeing as I have not been there for almost 2 years now. Once i got over that, i realised how much i should be focusing on the actors and the plot rather than the locations. You really need to notice details in this movie, as lots of it is flashbacks, and there is no indication of what is and what isnt a flashback (or flashforward, as the first scene is)unless you notice things like clothing. The ending is very ambiguous, and as the directors say, there is no real meaning to it, you can choose which of the two options you prefer (i wont say what happens, that would ruin it) A great movie, one to see if a thriller/thinker is your idea of a good movie.

jtur88 This was a decent watch, but nothing that I would particularly recommend to anyone. Acting performances were generally quite good, and the story certainly off-beat enough to keep one wondering where it would go. For something a little bit different, give it a try---better than the same-old same-old.