EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

kenconk Ted, the boy in this film doesn't seem to be an abnormal boy, but certain things piqued his curiosity in death. His subsequent experimentation with death and dangerous situations was very unsettling. His poker face expression through the worst of deeds was almost horrifying, and caused a lot of worry throughout the movie. This was a brilliant work by the director, letting it go the way it did. The solitude is presented without apology, and no shortening of lonely scenes. Who knows what anyone is capable of, in the wrong circumstances, the wrong family, the wrong relationship dynamics. This was a true gem.

KineticSeoul The main reason I decided to check this movie out was because it has Rainn Wilson in it. I liked his performances in a lot of the movies he is in, even the ones that aren't so good. This time around he takes on a way more serious role in a serious and psychological movie. This is a film that delves into the inner demons of a boy and the environment he is brought up in. This is however a slow-burn of a movie, with it not appearing to have a direction most of the way through. So yeah, the build up can bore the hell out of audiences that doesn't have the patience and focus for a film such as this. It's a low budget indie film that is more focused on the build up than having a actual sense of direction. Which would be fine if it was somewhat engaging. It does get engaging when the frustration of the boy and his feeling of being alone and caged in start to really kick in. But it takes a very very long time to get to that point. The rest just seems quite pointless, despite the boring raw dialogues. I did however liked how it blends in the interpretation of being bad and being misunderstood. Because you as the audience will try to grasp as to what really going on in the mind of the boy in this film. For a very slow burn movie such as this, 2 hours may take a toll on your patience but I personally thought it was a alright watch. I just wouldn't ever see it again.5.8/10

hwmillerster First, let me say that this is not a horror picture. It isn't a slasher picture. It's a good psychological thriller. I think some of the bad reviews were because it was made by a film company specializing in such movies. Second, Elijah Wood made an excellent first effort in producing this film. I consider it equal, if not a little better than the Good Son, Elijah's psychological thriller. That picture also starred the excellent David Morse. Jered Breeze is a revelation and has a good future in film if he chooses it.Ted Henley, the protagonist plays a nuanced sociopath. He doesn't kill animals, even his pet rabbit. He's an average boy in a desolate motel on a lonely highway that was probably cut off by an interstate. His father is drowning in his regrets and barely takes notice of his son. His father did seem to provide some motive for Ted's behavior. Near the end, Ted had quickly graduated into a proficient mass murdered with carefully chosen words to deflect attention away from him. Rainn Wilson skillfully plays a similar character in William Colby who set up as the fall guy.I find it interesting that the writer chose 1989 to shoot this in. That was probably the last year when land-line phones were still in use and cell phones weren't commonly used. Ted had no video games and no Internet to occupy him. Just a TV with over-the- air broadcasting. It would have made no sense to make it contemporary and writer wisely chose wisely no to do so.In short it was a very good drama made by new people, except Woods, and a tight budget. I'll wait for it's promised sequel.

Reno Rangan The entire setting reminds us the movie 'Psycho'. More or less it could have had made a good prequel to that, like the portrayal of Norman Bates' childhood. As an independent film from any previous narrative, it was quite good actually. Inspired by a novel that tells the story of a 9 year old boy who runs a motel with his father in a nowhere. In a lonely place where the customers are very rare, how the boy develops his behavious without social consciousness is what this movie is.Trust me, realism means this movie, but there's always flaws in a small budget film like this. If you always scan for logic, you can't enjoy any movie even in small quantity. Empty your thoughts and get into it, then there's a chance you might like it. I'm not saying it'll become your favourite, but the depiction was so good which was quite similar to the recent Austrian movie 'Goodnight Mommy'.It is not a horror, but a thriller-drama. A terrifying theme, that means terror-horror, thus it called horror. Other than that there's no supernatural or sci-fi things in it. It was a decent movie to me, I felt it was slightly underrated. The turnaround in the storytelling was very good yet predictable stuff. The filmmaker must bring a sequel for it, otherwise I'll be very disappointed.6/10