What Comes Around

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.

I never review movies. Most movies are reviewed much better than I feel they should be. The exception would be many comedies that have fallen to critical insult when they were just the right medicine at the right time.

After watching this movie, I felt compelled to say something about it. Perhaps, I had very low expectations for 'What Comes Around.' Whether I did or didn't isn't really important. I know that I disagree significantly with many of the critical reviews posted previously. I think that the average mature, intelligent, viewer will find this movie, interesting and thought-provoking.

Initially, I did question the acting of certain characters in the movie. However, I never disbelieved any of the portrayals when I was watching the movie. My conclusion, is that the writing, directing, acting, were carefully gaged to present a realistic scenario. These decisions work well enough that you dislike some of the characters. I believe this dislike is significant enough that it garnered some of the criticism in the previous reviews.

Yes, I didn't think the mother (Summer Phoenix) acted the way that my mother would or that I might but then again she's in a situation that most of us nor our mothers would have ever found our/their-selves. Clearly, as we learn in the end, her mind works a little differently. Maybe, it was only different during a particular period due to circumstances but we can't be sure.

As for the daughter (Grace Van Dien), she was a little bit goofy and giddy. I even thought that perhaps she was a little too happy for an American teenage girl. However, she has no real worries, no concerns, and she thinks that she is "in love." She is not portrayed as stupid, but I think the Director definitely wants us to see how idealistic, naïve, and ignorant she may be.

In regard to how she dresses... She appears to live in a small town in a mountain community. We can see by her room decor in the movie, that she is definitely an individual who is not following current trends. Her love of classic poetry would indicate that she does not fall into the masses in terms of her preferences, including her fashion sense. I think her costume selections suggest a quirky and intellectual personality for the particular individual that the movie is trying to depict.

As for Eric (Kyle Gallner), the daughter's love interest, WOW! His performance was so real that it transported me back to difficult situations from my own life. The conflict, pain, and heartbreak of his character are portrayed with powerful raw emotions.

If you're expecting a thriller or action movie on the level of something like 'Taken', this movie is not it. If you want to watch a well acted and directed realistic movie with surprises and twists. This is a great choice.

An attemp at a shocking thriller unfortunately turns into a lengthy, dull and plain film with plenty of cliches and repetitive tropes. The story itself had a nice simple (although not original) plot twist that sadly got lost in completely ordinary unsophisticated script. I am not saying that to make a good film you need to present an extremely complicated story, but when you do have a simple tale you have to grab the viewer's attention with other elements like a solid script or engaging cinematography and production design - all of which this picture lacks. Yet the biggest downfall (out of many) of What Comes Around is its incredibly weak acting performances. The rising Grace Van Dien (Stranger Things) just could not capture the protagonists's personality believably and her portrayal felt deeply artificial and in some scenes even ridiculous.

No pun intended - and yes I know the saying (goes around) - and I understand what the title is suggesting. You will too, when you see the movie. I was trying to figure out which direction this would take. It didn't exactly go the route I thought it would go - still a warning sign - or maybe multiple warning signs.

Grace van Dien, daughter of Casper, got quite famous - not so much because of her father, but because of Stranger Things - which I have not seen yet. But it is on my list. This is not exploitative by the way if that is something you are looking for - it is quite obvious from a certain point forward ... when the twist comes to play. And the cliches keep ... coming up too (no pun intended) .... it tries hard to give us food for thought ... and the actors try their best ... but it never really gets there (in my book) ... still good effort.

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.