Nowhereland

This movie starts out with statistics about child prostitution. What should have been a cautionary tale turns into an excuse to have the lead actress in several sex scenes, some where she was actually enjoying the sex. Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude, but this didn't feel like it was trying to show me the worst of society, rather, I felt like I was being shown her body and her sexual acts in a style that sought to make them feel sexy instead of horrifying...which I though was the point of the movie.

There just didn't seem to be anything going on here and no real message. The movie Thirteen or Megan is Missing have more to offer as far as what can go wrong with at risk teens.

Because it appears that we have a ton of experts in underage prostitution. "So real", "gripping truth", etc. But seriously, it's a dark indie pick that depicts desperate people trying to survive in a way-to-expensive California while never considering moving to somewhere else or doing something else. It does a good job of displaying a white trash attitude and mindset.

Something that hit me was the way in which the little girl was just bounced around from place to place. She had no stability in her life and no reason to believe that she was able to choose any other path other than the one she saw her own mother take. How sad to know that there are so many like her in the world. The nudity and stuff didn't bother me because I felt it wasn't gratuitous in nature. It felt very natural and like what would happen in reality.

When I saw this movie on amazon, I assumed it was a soft-core porn flick, but then the film starts with the messaged about how teen girls are exploited for sex. that really ruin my high.

The movie tries to cover everything you ever herd about teen prostitution and role it up in one girl, and it becomes a series of adventures in her life. Semi episodic going from one segment to another, but it does help to get the message across.

It is a realistic story about survival trying to be very leveled in telling us what it takes to be a girl in this position.

Yet still, the opening tiled message does help to get me in the tone of the drama this is suppose to be, the movie still kinda feels like a soft-core porn. It never ever gets out of that mood.

For me it does not make this an easier pill to shallow. In fact it does what a work of art should do...it makes me think, about the young girls who go into porn and I've seen at strip clubs and what actually got them there.

So, great film to watch, with a great message, unless your one of those guys who lives at the strip club, than this might mess up your head a little (or at lease I hope it does).

This movie follows the tragic life of Shara, a fifteen year old girl whose mother has resorted to prostitution in order to support them. Her mom shacks up with any man that will have her, which leads to Shara being the victim of an attempted rape. They leave that house and end up at another where Shara meets a boy and they fall in love. Things go south between them and having no other life skills, Shara turns to prostitution as well. She ends up working for a high end agency where she is exploited.

This is indeed a sad tale that I am sure bears a lot of similarities to actual stories. The story is good and you legitimately feel for Shara, but the acting is far from good and the nudity feels a lot on the exploitative side. Jessica Taylor Haid, who portrays Shara was around 20 when this was filmed, but she has a face that could very easily pass for 15 or 16, and her constant nudity gave the film a dirty feel. Given the subject matter I feel that the writer/director could have approached the nudity a bit differently.

This film comes in as average for me.