Mouth to Mouth

Possibly, Mouth to Mouth is not to everyone's taste. Not everyone loves criticism of control and coercion masquerading as rebellion. Not everyone loves experimentation and risk taking in film - Mouth to Mouth has lots of this. For the director's first feature, this film has a flair and playfulness as well as a depth of argument. The story is cunningly woven around the lead character's search for acceptance and meaning. It is also a virtuoso performance by Elliot Page, still Ellen, who treats the audience to a multi-faceted brave young woman character - we need to see more female characters of this style. The 80's music of The Stranglers that opens the film gives a taste of the urgency and grit that will follow. Great movie.

Not sure why this came onto my radar but Amazon recommended it so I thought I would check it out. Based on the real life experiences of director Alison Murray, the movie exists to show how corrupt social groups can become, even when claiming to do something honourable like "helping homeless youth" . It creates characters that we have all met in life and shows how the Sherry character that we all wish we were fights for freedom and basic human rights. Her character is able to challenge the mindless acceptance of abuse of power of the group leader and by the end it seems like the group may unravel because of the chain reaction she starts. Some weird choices in the visual style but overall a good looking movie also. I would give it a strong recommendation.

This film is based on an interesting idea which in the right hands could have been a wonderful film. Its an indie film, of course it is, but I have seen a good few indie films and this really hits rock with the director. I mean Alison Murray, I'm sure she knows a lot about being a teenage dropout but she doesn't know much about making a gripping film.

Its got some pretty good casting, about six of the people cast were okay actors and that includes Ellen Page, it didn't really push her the way a film and a good director should, as as we have all seen - she can do a lot better! The film was shot as though Murray read about every effect you can do with a camera and thought - I'm gonna use them all! It went light for no reason, it didn't accentuate a feeling or to show an emotion, it wasn't intimate or innocent it just was and in my experience, ever shot should be justified, from the first to the very last.

The sound track was good, I'll give you that. And some of it was quite hard hitting, but I find it difficult to believe that I just watched a film where people died in the course of an anarchist group trying to find freedom and I don't care about them. It wasn't believable, no grief, no despair, no anguish. I wasn't reeled in, I didn't feel their pain and so I didn't believe in its reality.

It is that typical film made by someone who wants to tell their 'incredible story' and just got out of art school. It tries to fit too much in to the plot when a good film can focus on both plot and the dimension of the characters. The ending was excruciating and I cant believe I just spent £15 on this film.

When I first saw the preview for this film, it looked like a trippy indie film with a great soundtrack. I decided to give it a chance and bought it. It just came in today and I have to say, it is not what I expected, but better.

This film is not about some rebel girl who runs away from home and has insane adventures. This is a movie about a girl who is desperately trying to become a part of something and the mother who follows her into a dangerous cult. It has so much more depth than I expected. The movie's hero is clearly Bat from beginning to end. However, other characters who the viewer does not expect become heroes as well. The movie shows a very scary and a very real descent into the lifestyle of a cult. The characters are unique and are uniquely duped into this life.

The acting in it is phenomenal. Ellen Page, who we now know as Juno, shows another side of herself as the resilient Bat. The character shows real strength in the face of confusion.

This movie entices and rattles the viewer. It dares to ask the question, What is a perfect world?

What can I say about this? Nothing about it is inherently bad (well okay, most of the acting is, but aside from that very obvious fact); it's mostly just a very plodding even boring film of often silly, predictable nothingness. You have your standard stereotypes everywhere, but none of the characters are in any way likable, which in itself doesn't necessarily cause me a problem and maybe this is just the type of film where no one needs to be liked, but either way. It even fails to explore the nature of a cult more deeply (or even at all), which was a wasted opportunity.

One last thing, I've seen a few mentions of this being realistic. My a**e is it realistic! People seem to think that if a film's made on a low budget with no special effects and bad acting that it's realistic. Please stop mistaking hard to watch with realism.