Nadie Es Lo Que Parece

At first I thought this was a solid,muscular acted drama about a young teenage girl finding friendship then ' love' with a much older guy on the internet and the ramifications of how the internet can foster vulnerable girls into falling with much older men.

Cue a talky , arguments about the mother finding out and the girl expressing her love for this chap- who is old enough to know better... However, it doesn't really go down that way, a twist occurs mid way through that spins the entire film around completely.

This is a short,lean drama, clearly based on a play that gives weighty themes to adult responsibilities, childhood in peril and the sins of the past. Good performances around especially Kyle Gallner- my second film this week I've seen him in after 'The Passenger'; he's turning into an actor to watch.

A thought provoking and well made drama.

A couple interesting twists, but the acting by Summer Phoenix is so so bad that there is no chance for this movie to be taken seriously. Grace Van Dien tries and plays the role well enough. Kyle Gallner shines here. With better dialogue and acting, this could have been a really successful psychological thriller. As it stands though, it's a dark and twisty Hallmark movie. I have to keep writing about this movie, so I will mention that Anna's outfit choices are interesting. Maybe this is how some teens dress these days, but I saw a lot of outfits that read professor/librarian, which felt off. And that's all I have to say about that.

This movie is one of my favorite genres, and I wanted to like it more than I did. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it enough that I don't regret spending 90 minutes watching it, but it could've been better.

Grace Van Dien did a fine job, as did Kyle Gallner. My biggest issue with this film is Summer Phoenix. The whole time she was in scene, it felt as though she was trying too hard to act, like she was in an acting class trying to convey emotion. It didn't feel natural like the others, and therefore it was incredibly distracting and at times, painful to watch. Because of this, the bond between Anna and her mother felt artificial, and it's an important part of the story. This movie definitely suffered because of her, in my opinion.

Other than that, the story was very good, well told, and it kept me tuned in. 6/10.

I happened to come across "What Comes Around" on Hulu. Having no idea what it was, I decided to check it out. It had a routine plot (a girl hooks up with a boy who isn't exactly what he seems), but a twist saved it from being a total washout. Even so, it seemed like not much happened in the movie. Not terrible - there were some intense scenes - but an hour later I felt like I hadn't gotten anything out of the movie.

It's probably worth mentioning the nepotism behind the movie: director Amy Redford is Robert's daughter, while star Grace Van Dien is Robert Mitchum's great-granddaughter. Summer Phoenix is the younger sister of River and Joaquin.

Roost is an uncomfortable film to watch, so there's your warning! The story centres around the relationship of three people: Anna, the 16 year-old falling for a guy she met online played by Grace Van Dien; Beth, Anna's mom played by Summer Phoenix; and Eric, the guy Anna talks to online played by Kyle Gallner. Just with that very minimal description of the film, I'm sure you can already sense some of the drama that ensues.

The film is absolutely uncomfortable, as was it's intention. There were many 😬 moments on my end, and it was evident that many people felt that way too. Grace and Summer are a good mother-daughter duo, sometimes overacting, but overall good. The real stand out in the film is Kyle Gallner; he was fantastic!

The film explores trauma, more specifically unprocessed trauma and how it can affect the lives of those around us. If this triggers you at all, maybe this movie should be a pass.

Definitely a provocative and twisted story, Roost was a film I picked just because it suited my schedule, but I am incredibly glad I was able to see it.