Pali Road

The plot is suspenseful and the characters are intriguing. It is creative and the "what will happen next" keeps viewers riveted to the film. I love the winding of local culture and the beauty of the islands was well interweaved. The photography/cinematography was beautiful, it takes a real artist to catch some of the scenes. I was surprised by the outcome of the film and like that I did not expect it. The female roles were well cast and I kept watching the faces of the female characters. The cinematography was expert in coloring the background scenes of the islands to show viewers the inner beauty of Hawaii. It was interesting to see the interaction of the in laws and parents and I think they were portrayed as many of the old time parents thought, those of the "fifties". In addition, the film showed a suspense, a girls plight, riveting portrayal of family roles and local cultural roles, scenery, changes in life, choices in life and how those affect ones' outcome, responsibilities in life. After seeing the film you go out to think about our own lives and the movies makes one think of how our own choices affect where and whom we are.

The "waking up and not remembering your life" meme has been played out in many film and TV shows in the past. However, "Pali Road" takes it to a new level.

Lily (Michelle Chen) wakes up after a car accident and it thrust into a life she has no memory of. The memories that she does have are those of being with her boyfriend, Neil (Jackson Rathbone) and not of her current husband and child.

Her family and friends insist that this current life is the only reality there is. Lily begins to question her sanity and the film takes a darker, more suspenseful turn.

The acting is excellent with Chen and Rathbone delivering moving performances. The cinematography adds so much to the film that it almost feels like an additional character. Scenes go from bright, warm and lush to dark and brooding as the film progresses. Director Jonathan Hua Lang Lim keeps the story moving and delivers some spectacular camera shots.

Ultimately this film is about the power of love to overcome all obstacles. The love that Lily feels is stronger than the "reality" that is telling her something different. Watching this film will make many people question their own reality and the choices and compromises they have made in their lives.

I think really good movies will leave you thinking and questioning and "Pali Road" is no exception. If you get a chance to see this film I highly recommend that you do.

..... It was a pretty decent movie. Normally I'd give it a 6,5 but it'll get the other 0,5 for the general effort and kind hearted moral of the story.

The truth is some scenes dragged a little and it could have been shorter, also there were some oddities such as why she didn't call the boyfriend while researching her past, but overall it wasn't disappointing and it didn't feel like a waste of time in the end, which for me is the ultimate criterion as to if a movie was good or not.

It also has sort of a moral in the story which is subtle and down to earth.

It's a good movie for a lazy night..

I don't know how this movie got such high rated reviews, maybe we watched different films, but in ny opinion it failed in several different ways. The writing is cheesy and the acting is awful. The only person whose acting was believable was the Neil character, everyone else around him was just reading a script. Even her pretending to be a doctor was cringeworthy to watch.

Pali Road is an exceptional romantic psycho thriller, that will hold your attention through to the end, but also leaving you scratching your head. It is about a woman who wakes up in a completely different life, after a car accident, and no one around her (not even her parents) remembers the details about her "original" life, nor her real boyfriend. Lilly will have to question her sanity and her feelings in order to reveal the truth. These actors were relatively unknown to me but I was amazed by Michelle Chen's performance. She did a great job in portraying Lilly and the rest of the crew did a decent job too. The script is cleverly written and the story is easy to follow. I highly enjoyed watching this movie and I give it a high recommendation.