Wildflower

The film was recommended by Netflix as part of thriller Friday... not entirely sure why.

The film gets off to a slow start and never really picks up and speed. It's starts with a random half story of the male lead which is loosely referee back to at points. All of a sudden it gets to the female lead with no introduction or back story.

It's a very safe film and somehow they manage to solve a 12 year old missing person case when we all know from cold case about the hard evidence you need before you can make any arrests.

It was all very miraculous, possibly aimed at Christian youth ministry movie nights, with plenty of moral story and no sign of ethnic minorities, no alcohol, swearing or even the faintest suggestion of sex.

This is a beautiful heartfelt movie. Performances were great, music was wonderful. I Ioved it.

A 20 year-old (Nathalia Ramos) in a college town in northern New York has blackouts and premonitions, which pave the way for her to meet a troubled, but compassionate handyman (Cody Longo). They sort of team-up to investigate a missing girl case from a dozen years earlier. Kevin McCorkle plays the police chief and Alexa Rose Steele a young woman in the town.

"Wildflower" (2014) is a crime drama/mystery with paranormal bits that only cost $650,000, but seems like more because it's so well made (by writer/director Nicholas DiBella). This is not a thriller, as it has been wrongly designated in some places, although there are a couple brief thrills. It's a low-key drama/mystery with slight faith-based aspects, mostly because the dude is fixing-up pews at a church facility and is dealing with disillusionment due to a tragedy. The pastor of the fellowship is actually a small role (Benjamin Ashbrook).

So don't watch this if you loathe the very concept of God or want a crime thriller with a dynamic scene every 10 minutes, like "Deadfall" (2012), which is a decent flick albeit contrived and unlikely. This one, by contrast, plays out like real life.

For anyone who scoffs at the paranormal bits, these have to do with what the bible calls the 'word of knowledge,' the ability to know things about the past or immediate future which you wouldn't otherwise know without this spiritual gift. Of course people with such gifts are understandably viewed by secularists as crazy and desperately needing the Psych Ward, which the movie touches on.

To appreciate this picture you have to enjoy lifelike drama. It effectively shows how ordinary people and their stories are more interesting than the most overblown effects-laden extravaganzas (to me, at least). Both Nathalia Ramos and Cody Longo own their roles, especially Nathalia (particularly as the story proceeds). There's an intangible honesty & reverence to the proceedings that appeals to me.

Also, this is about way more than just solving a mystery, but the movie wisely takes the subtle approach, unlike "Deadfall" which smashes you over the head with its well-intentioned points.

The film runs 1 hour, 32 minutes, and was shot in Brockport & Rochester, New York, about an hour's drive east of Buffalo by Lake Ontario.

GRADE: B.

Overall, this movie is well done- not a blockbuster hit, but worth watching. I would say it is a drama much more than it would be a thriller. It reminds me of a TV show soap opera but a lot more wholesome. It has a sense of balance between dialogue, thrill, and redemption. If you look past the stale screenplay, it turns out to be a pretty decent movie. This would be a great movie for all those people who flip on the TV and start watching the first soap opera they come across- I know you're out there! Instead, you can watch this and feel a lot better about yourself :) I appreciate how realistically dark the subject matter gets, and how it doesn't force God into the whole business like an unrealistic band-aid to the problems that are happening. It gets at the confusion we feel when faced with issues like death, anxiety, lack of trust etc. and shows how difficult/ impossible it is to see God in all of it.

Plot twists kept me on my toes and guessing, and I found myself drawn into the rising action toward the end. The movie left me feeling good that I had watched it.

I enjoyed this movie. It had a good storyline and ending.