Lavender

The movie begins by letting us know that the main character's family was killed when she was young, and that she was found in the house, crouched in the corner holding a pocket razor. Basically the movie then serves to unfold the mystery of what happened all those years ago.

The movie is incredibly slow. I found myself doing that "come on, wrap it up" gesture at the screen on more than one occasion where the camera was just pointed at Abbie Cornish's face, while she stood there looking sad or scared for WAY TOO LONG. I don't require a superhero movie to stay engaged, but the pace on this thing was like watching hair grow.

Like some other reviewers, I also questioned the "look" of Abbie Cornish's character. She certainly didn't look like a photographer. She looked like she was going to a barn dance, every day. I usually don't feel that annoyed by a character's wardrobe, but in this case that darn denim jacket got SO old it was distracting.

That aside, the plot unfolds in a pretty silly way. There isn't much consistency to the supernatural aspects (I am fine suspending disbelief for supernatural stuff -- but please establish some rules instead of having everyone do totally random things!).

By far the SILLIEST thing about this movie, though, is when we get to find out "what really happened." It was 1985 when this multiple murder took place, and the police couldn't put together what happened?? Once you see everything play out on the screen, it's obvious that even a random person off the street examining the bodies could give a fairly good guess. The specific types of injuries (or lack thereof) would make everything pretty obvious.

In short, it isn't a mysterious crime at all, so the police would ABSOLUTELY have figured it out and narrowed in on the killer quite easily. I hate having to suspend THAT much disbelief, so I felt cheated at the end, rather than rewarded for my patience sitting through all of those long, slow scenes.

It's not the worst movie I've ever seen, but there are a LOT of other good things I'd recommend putting ahead of this on your watchlist.

What a strange little movie we have in the under-the-radar Canadian supernatural drama "Lavender". It may be a low budget indy, but the story, acting and cinematography are all of high caliber.

Australian beauty Abbie Cornish is Jane, a woman with a horrific past that she can not remember. Cornish resonates as a wife and mother struggling to recall unthinkable events from a tragic childhood. Although she plays a gal from the American Midwest, her indigenous Aussie accent does seep through on occasion. But that doesn't detract from a solid performance as the anchor of a uniformly fine cast which includes veteran pros Dermot Mulroney and Justin Long.

And one other thing. Watching "Lavender" may well result in you never again looking at unexpected presents wrapped in pretty red ribbon as a welcome surprise.

Lavender has a fairly interesting, though not entirely unique premise. While it tries to create an eerie atmosphere and engaging story, it just kind of misses the mark. Nothing is particularly terrible about it. The story resolves neatly and there are a few effective scary moments. It's just not very memorable. I personally didn't find the acting very impressive and just felt bored at moments. The reveal at the end was unexpected, but not all that satisfying.

If you're considering checking out the movie, it's worth a casual watch.

In 1985 ... the mother is killed, one of the daughters survives. Not much later the police arrives. Who called them?

I'm honestly surprised this movie has such a low rating. It's not the best I have ever seen, but it's pretty good. There is a plot twist that I didn't see coming and the main actress played her character really well.

I would recommend this if you like psychological movies that has the climax towards the end.