wedgwood

One woman escorts another to a religious cult settlement mid-desert. The setting could have been brilliant for a horror but unlike some of the critics I didn't see beauty or skill in the cinematography. The performances were decent, and probably the most skilled thing about the movie, as the plot and especially the ending are very loose and rely heavily on the audience's imagination. The dialogue, which should hold a film like this up, was poor, and the characters were archetypes, there to serve a purpose, as such their attributes were bland and predictable. I had personal issues with the god-speeches early in the film which made me absolutely loathe one of the characters from the outset, and that destroyed my hope of enjoyment. As an amateur indie, it is worth more than the 3.8/10 it is currently sitting on, but I'd recommend the filmmakers exercise more patience next time, and put some proper effort into the script and conclusion.

I am moved to comment on one particular aspect and not the film in general, which was magnificent and has been reviewed well. The night I began watching Silver Haze I paused it about 40 minutes in and left it for about two weeks. It was the Florence character which disturbed me, and when I finally finished the film I felt utterly vindicated for being hesitant at seeing what happens with her. The signs were there early that this is a tragic person--what I would diagnose superficially as having symptoms consistent with borderline personality disorder. She says she's a bad person early in the film, and it brought a tear to my eye. The scene where she flips and tells the woman she's fallen in love with that she doesn't like her anymore made me ball shamefully, because it is so familiar. The splitting, the nature of love/intimacy to a borderline person is fleeting and turns as quickly to disgust as it developed into love. It's unstoppable, and I felt for both of them, especially Florence. It's one thing to be able to walk away from her, it's another to be inside her, feeling that always. Love and disgust are far too fluid for borderlines, this is something inescapable, and it's the reason why we're labeled by others and consider ourselves 'bad people', and why relationships are difficult at best. I am really happy that I watched it and I'm equally happy I left the final 40 for a time when I was better equipped to handle the content. 8/10.

I don't think many people are going to get past the main actress's terrible acting. The script is barebones and boring but no worse than a Marvel movie. The plot is predictable but the setting is secluded and spooky. Unfortunately nothing happens plot-wise for the first hour and without any interesting characters or intelligent dialogue a lot of people are going to end up turning it off before the finale. There are hints of schizophrenia and domestic violence brought in toward the end, I repeat, hints, they have no depth. Mena Suvari is apparently doing the voice over for the main character Anne's alter ego, which I see absolutely no point in. I would not recommend this film to anyone.