Ashley

"Ashley (2013)" is an independent film directed by Dean Matthew Ronalds. It stars the young model/actor Nicole Fox in the title role. Ashley is a troubled teenager--depressed and lonely. She's a lesbian, and this causes bullying and harassment at school. Her father is dead and her mother is an alcoholic, who continues to make bad decisions in her choice of men.

It's not surprising that Ashley is a "cutter." Self-injury with knives or broken glass is fairly common among adolescent girls. It's not life-threatening, but it's a sign of significant mental health problems. (Ashley has a school therapist who tries to help her, but Ashley is very, very hard to reach.)

We learn all this in the opening scenes of the movie. The remainder of the film follows Ashley's progress for the next few weeks at school, home, and in and around Los Angeles. Life is hard for Ashley, but she is intelligent, resilient, and tough. It's hard to tell if these qualities can outweigh the bad aspects of Ashley's past and present life.

As another reviewer has pointed out, Nicole Fox has real acting ability. She is so attractive that it's easy to assume that no one will care if she can or can't act. She can act, and it's worth seeing the movie just to watch her performance.

We saw this film at its premiere sponsored by Rochester's excellent High Falls Film Festival. However, it will work well enough on DVD. As I write this review, the movie has a ridiculously low IMDb weighted rating of 4.5. However, if you look at the ratings, you'll see that more than 50% of people gave the film a rating of 10, 9, or 8. It's true that the movie received a fair number of 1 ratings. Even so, the weighting system has broken down in the case of this very good film. Don't be frightened away by the abysmal rating. This movie is worth seeking out and watching.

Loved this movie sooo much made me cry and love that it's got lgbt representation. This film really hits deep into realistic school life that me and I'm sure many other ppl have gone through in their lives.

I can't understand the motivation behind some of the negative reviews I see here. Yes, the film is as entertaining as day-old coffee, but that is the point! Ashley is a 17-year old girl, without real friends and her mother is angry & broken-hearted herself, and nobody understands her pain or why she is so withdrawn. If you can't understand that, then your adolescence must have been pretty peachy indeed. Most of us losers felt lost and alone and didn't have the verbal skills to even explain why we felt so hopeless. I'm not going to ruin the movie by spoiling the ending except to say that she has strength in there somewhere and it finally appears. This film was haunting and I highly recommend it.

This film is extremely well done. Nicole Fox's portrayal of a depressed teen is spot on. The treatment she receives from her father, mother's boyfriend, classmates, and the attempted rape are all issues that members of the LGBTQ community face daily and it needed to be brought to light. It is a shame that this film did not get more widespread approval and kudos. I found it to be an extraordinary film.

I am going to say first that there is a review that trashes Nichole Fox's acting. That reviewer is wrong. There are a lot of problems with the film but the acting except maybe just a tad from the mom is not one of them. The mother part is very poorly written, she goes into rages instantly without a whole lot of reason, but then . . .I think again of friends with troubled parents and I think, yeah ,maybe, but when it comes to teens who are withdrawn I really think that Nicole Fox nails it. Her therapy sessions are excellent if too quiet for good film making. Sometimes reality is just not exciting enough.

There aren't a lot of surprises and it is largely a downer, but it is truthful. The one thing I didn't buy was the relationship with the older girl, but that relationship does open doors and helps to take the lid off of the pressure cooker that was Ashley's life.

I have known girls like Ashley. That this one seems to make it out alive is a miracle in itself.

Acting Yes, Script Meh but the subject matter is important and for the most part handled well.

But what is with all the canned operatic music in the background. There must have been a sale because there is not tie in for the classical music to the story. It sets a tone, but oddly like having 50's Country music in a movie set in New England.