Rid of Me

Rid of Me is an experience. Be prepared to cringe, laugh and maybe cry, because Katie O'Grady makes this journey devastatingly real. As Meris, she conjures the realization of our worst fears and insecurities and demonstrates the graceless and mortifying path back to redemption. There's no romanticizing the painful detours a life can take in this film and there's really nothing tidy and formulaic about it.

Definitely something different. And me, I love this stuff. As gut-wrenching as it was to watch at times, it was also full of quirky characters and well-timed comic relief.

Good stuff!

How can this movie have a 3.x rating? It's intense. Meris is a woman that is really in love with her husband. She moves with him to his home town. His friends are mean to her and really rude. The town is full of uptight a**holes. Meris is in love with Mitch and we see her tortured by this life. All is not lost until see meets Trudy. Trudy shows her the light and Meris starts to kick ass. Eyeliner, attitude, living life! Sure she makes mistakes, but survives to find something special just down the road. I love redemption movies. The characters are great and so real. Why is this a 3.x?? This makes no sense!!!! A+++! More people need to see this awesome flick.

I enjoyed the movie. The filmography, with long close-ups of faces and eyes, fantasies, and flashbacks or forwards depicted the emotions someone in a similar situation might feel. Watching the film I had, "Oh honey! No! Don't do that!" moments, or, "Oh crap that's awful, I hate it when that happens," and "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps," and "Oh, now that's just degrading, but you probably needed to live through it to get past it," moments. People everywhere have acted out after disappointments and this is a great depiction of someone searching for something both during, and after, an epic loss. The soundtrack was great. I don't know what it cost, but it made me *feel* as much as Titanic ever could, and I assume on a fraction of the budget.

I loved this movie. The movie starts with a scene that is so gross and disgusting… you immediately feel sympathy for the "victim" and wonder how someone could be so horrible to another human being. But then you are taken back to the beginning… way before the previous scene… to a time when everything was going well. It doesn't take long before you begin to like Maris and your feelings get all twisted inside. Who hasn't met the family or friends of a loved one and wonder if you could ever fit in… if they will like you? The music in this movie puts you on the edge of your seat, bracing you for the worst. You begin to realize that you are sympathizing for Maris and not her "victim." You are cheering for Maris. This movie plays on every emotion. Katie O'Grady is wonderful and James Westby has truly created some interesting characters and a great film.

I can be a bit squeamish about this or that, so the first 10 minutes or so of this film made me wonder what I was getting into, but I was soon deeply involved in poor Maris' sheltered life. It is a journey and I loved watching every darkly funny moment of it. Yes, the film is low- budget but the writing - the three acts, the dramatic arc - is all there. There is actually falling action and a full resolution after the horrifying climax. I was giggling at Maris, sad for Maris, laughing with Maris, cheering for Maris, fearing for Maris...and I won't spoil the ending, which I loved. I also loved her sugar-addicted friend. Please take this film to be very much like the very early days of independent film, where locals could be found in the background and local artists made cameos. If you liked "Scumrock" or other films like that, then you'll like this film.

Honestly, I'm troubled by the poor reviews of this film because I think it handles the very important subject of how we treat people who don't fall in what we consider the mainstream - from women, to artists, to people of color. Perhaps it takes on some parts of this subject on more than others, but it's only one movie. I also really liked some of the humor with ominous sound, when cutting to shots that showed the small town/pre-fab housing tableaux, for example. Lots of fun moments in this film.

Again, I do not understand why people are giving this film a bad review. As someone who is a life-long film watcher (films from all over the world, both big and small budget) and as someone with many friends who work in film, I see this film as nothing but a success. Perhaps the people reviewing the work have some other motives in mind.