Topside

I watch ALOT of movies. This is the first time I've left a review on here. We'll done everything. Celine, acting was so visceral! Great job!! Very gritty! I felt that they got there intentions across the screen from concept to finished product.

'Topside' features Nikki (Celine Held), a drug addled mother of a 5-year0old girl, Little (Zhaila Farmer), and how they survive underground in an abandoned New York subway tunnel. Together, a small community of homeless denizens watch over each other and help protect Little, until one day, when the city clears out the encampment for remodeling and everyone scatters. It then falls to Nikki and Little to find a way to survive topside.

This film shows how homeless people can be displaced, taken advantage of, and how everyone around them tries to 'help' by way of calling social services. Nikki's main concern throughout the movie is not being seperated from Little, and at no point do any of the various do-gooders offer that. The passion from Celine Held for her incredibly talented co-star, Zhalia Farmer, is very realistic and captivating. Truly a gritty tale with heart

Worth a watch!

Are you uncomfortable? Good, you should be. Put your judgement aside. Walk in someone else's shoes. I don't want to hear, "you shouldn't do drugs if you have a child" or "she's a horrible mother." This is about real life and real situations.

Life is all about experiences and perspectives. If you don't have certain experiences you can gain knowledge and perspective through someone else's struggle and story.

Raw look at poverty and homelessness. This is how hundreds of thousands of people have to live due to dependency, mental illness, etc.

In my mind love did prevail not apathy....

Celine Held's "Topside" is a grim portrait of people on society's margins, and what they have to do to survive. You can bet money that tens of millions of people worldwide live like this. The fact remains that if you're reading this review, you're among the privileged members of society.

This is the most tense drama I've ever seen... literally tensing up. I was hesitant to watch as I thought it might be too slow, even for me. But I was drawn in pretty quickly! Very well thought out film, one I won't forget.