Violet

The opening off Violet, shrinking Violet, made me cringe with a less than appealing voice over on top of the dialog but in the end it all worked and the movie is unique and very well produced and presented.

Yes it has the Indie feel probably on purpose. Wait around for th end credits and meet the crew.

It is a tale of how a young but damaged young woman found her empowerment and mojo against herself and an internal sea of self doubt and self sabotage, all while living a rather ordinary eistence.

The ARTY stuff really set the scene and worked well to highlight the various realities that were inhabiting the same space as our younf heroine picked herself up and refused to be a doormat.

Yes its an Indie, yes it's a bit Hollywood ad cheesy at times. That's what makes it work.

Go see it and you WILL be moved.

This is the first film I've seen that has shown so clearly, the mental anguish of anxiety condition & post childhood abuse and/or neglect. Did a great job of showing visually how that feels & how it affects daily life - so well done! Good tips to deal with and/or overcome it too, thank you.

Many people suffer from severe anxiety disorders and schizophrenia as well. Many of the scenes were like memories in my own life, feeling insecure and having continuous self talk in your brain. It can be debilitating. Even with medication. I'm a Vice President of a company but I still struggle sometimes. This character that Olivia Munn played FABULOUSLY is a groundbreaking one in a small limited release film. If you DON'T understand this movie, try to imagine what this must be like for someone. It's a real challenge. Cheers to Olivia Munn for her brave and authentic performance. Violet is a character that I will remember.

The script and the artistic vision for how to present this story, both the responsibility of Justine Bateman, were brilliant. Acting by Olivia Munn was perfect. Supporting cast more than adequate. Pacing is strong, selection of locations easily makes up for low set decoration budget. Story packs an emotional wallop without losing a sense of irony and humor. Left me feeling I'd rather see ten movies like this than one 200 million dollar CGI-filled action epic. Well done all around.

Some of the reviews here I've read don't make a lot of sense to me. I thought every component of the film worked perfectly. Although I think the situation portrayed is definitely relatable to a lot of women, and the aspects of self-doubt / self-criticism are likely much more deeply ingrained for women in our present society, I could easily relate to this as a male. A lot of us (women and men) have been raised to be people-pleasers and put other people's interests and feelings ahead of our own. I can easily relate to hearing the voice and seeing the internal thoughts and stopping myself from doing the things that would more likely than not make me happier. And it made sense for the voice to be a male because regardless of who may have been the influence on you when you were young, the voice of society telling us to keep things under wraps is most definitely patriarchal. I have friends who I see doing the exact same thing in their day-to-day lives to whom I plan to recommend this film. Overall, I think this film was very empowering and important in that a lot of people can hopefully learn something from it. And if you walked away thinking this movie was pointless or that it was just a "Hallmark romance," maybe you're one of those people who so often takes advantage of people like Violet in this world.