Natural Selection

I liked the message and it's relatable but kinda boring and slow. I liked Ryan Munzert character so much maybe if the other character had something more interesting like him it would've made a really good movie.

I don't watch that many 'New-kid in a small town' movies, so the common premise did not eschew me (although I suspect veterans of this may still find this one is different from the lot).

Natural Selection is a movie shot with an attention to detail. From the start, every character's nuance and mannerism (e.g drawing attention to how one character empties his pockets - becomes important later on) quickly blossoms into character defining details which becomes relevant to the movie's plot. The cinematography is good. I won't overpraise it by saying I saw Mona Lisas in this, but I enjoyed it enough that the after-images of some frames is still there in my mind's eye.

A worthwhile watch, in a kickback-on-a-rainy-Sunday kind of way.

Both the protagonist and antagonist show some decent acting. A similarity of a troubled past and a lack of love and being taken care of, make the characters struggle with their lives. How they cope with this darkness differs strongly, which makes for a great tension between the two. The antagonist shows great acting skills by not being completely demonized, yet a very manipulative and snide boy who can't stop inflicting his bitterness and nihilism onto others.

The downside of this movie is that it lays it on too thick. The overwhelming amount of dramatic past incidents is just too much to remain functional in bringing the viewer to sympathize with the characters, or even makes it incredible and unrelatable.

Not all the actors are great, but it is certainly decent enough to make it worth the watch.

The main topic of interest is what the protagonist will do with the different forces in his life that are pulling him in different directions, but thanks to the good acting of the antagonist this character is also interesting to watch, aside from the unfortunate fact that he is too easy to read because of the frequent references in the script to what he is planning to do.

Lighting and screenwork is also suited to the story; not too flashy, but directing focus the right way. Music is okay, but sometimes a bit too standard for my taste, as it sometimes reminded me of those free tunes that come with your computer.

Natural Selection stars Mason Dye as the new kid in high school who has must moved to town with mother Amy Carlson. Carlson has never gotten over the breakup of her marriage and has sbstance abuse problems. Often Dye is the designated adult in the family.

Because of his home situation Dye doesn't make friends easily. One who does befriend him is Ryan Manzert who is friendly enough and acts as a protector of sorts. But is gradually revealed to be a very dark character.

Natral Selection is a well acted drama. But the pace is dreadfully slow. It's like an extended version of an after school special.

This movie was SO predictable, I had it figured out 15 minutes into the story. The acting was OK, but unfortunately, the dialog was an embarrassment, and got progressively worse until the inane conclusion, where everything was neatly wrapped up in a tidy package. So, if you know what will happen after 15 minutes, save yourself the time you will spend watching this, and move on to something worthwhile.