Mouth to Mouth

(I apologize if the review contain mistakes, because I'm Portuguese)

I'm loyal fan of the movies that Ellen Page has been doing in recent times ("Juno," "An American Crime", "Hard Candy" ...)

Recently I had the opportunity to see this "Mouth to Mouth". I prepared some popcorn, sat down on the couch and started to watch it!

The first parameter to not like the movie, I noticed that happens early in the film, his screenplay was a bit confusing. Very tied up. Do not know if understood the "tied" which meant, but is a bit confused. The worst is that the screenplay will continued so until the rest of the film.

The director of the film sometimes shows strange scenes on screen (I will not say the spoiler), but who see the movie will notice this and identify what those scenes. Sometimes, the course of the film is a bit confusing. I do not have much sense of time.

Now let the good things the movie. I love the twists of the film and the performances. The cinematography is very dirty! And for being "dirty", it is a good cinematography. And the soundtrack, I liked.

Overall is good. But ... have their reservations. Have bad side. Recommend, but does not belong to my favorite movies.

I like Indie films and this one feels like a classic of the early 2000's, telling a story set in the 1980's with a gritty aesthetic and punk grunge soundtrack including The Stranglers Nice and Sleazy. I notice that Jim Sturgess and August Diehl have roles here and they both went out to have strong careers, not to mention Elliot ( Ellen ) Page. The interactions between the young street life characters feel authentic to me and I was invested to know what would happen to the vulnerable young woman at the heart of a disturbing story about how good intentions can go horribly wrong when we turn our individuality over to an all powerful leader.

When I first saw the preview for this film, it looked like a trippy indie film with a great soundtrack. I decided to give it a chance and bought it. It just came in today and I have to say, it is not what I expected, but better.

This film is not about some rebel girl who runs away from home and has insane adventures. This is a movie about a girl who is desperately trying to become a part of something and the mother who follows her into a dangerous cult. It has so much more depth than I expected. The movie's hero is clearly Bat from beginning to end. However, other characters who the viewer does not expect become heroes as well. The movie shows a very scary and a very real descent into the lifestyle of a cult. The characters are unique and are uniquely duped into this life.

The acting in it is phenomenal. Ellen Page, who we now know as Juno, shows another side of herself as the resilient Bat. The character shows real strength in the face of confusion.

This movie entices and rattles the viewer. It dares to ask the question, What is a perfect world?

Possibly, Mouth to Mouth is not to everyone's taste. Not everyone loves criticism of control and coercion masquerading as rebellion. Not everyone loves experimentation and risk taking in film - Mouth to Mouth has lots of this. For the director's first feature, this film has a flair and playfulness as well as a depth of argument. The story is cunningly woven around the lead character's search for acceptance and meaning. It is also a virtuoso performance by Elliot Page, still Ellen, who treats the audience to a multi-faceted brave young woman character - we need to see more female characters of this style. The 80's music of The Stranglers that opens the film gives a taste of the urgency and grit that will follow. Great movie.

Not sure why this came onto my radar but Amazon recommended it so I thought I would check it out. Based on the real life experiences of director Alison Murray, the movie exists to show how corrupt social groups can become, even when claiming to do something honourable like "helping homeless youth" . It creates characters that we have all met in life and shows how the Sherry character that we all wish we were fights for freedom and basic human rights. Her character is able to challenge the mindless acceptance of abuse of power of the group leader and by the end it seems like the group may unravel because of the chain reaction she starts. Some weird choices in the visual style but overall a good looking movie also. I would give it a strong recommendation.