Nowhereland

So sad but true. Could have gone many ways. I had several scenarios in my head but I do like to be surprised by endings

Something that hit me was the way in which the little girl was just bounced around from place to place. She had no stability in her life and no reason to believe that she was able to choose any other path other than the one she saw her own mother take. How sad to know that there are so many like her in the world. The nudity and stuff didn't bother me because I felt it wasn't gratuitous in nature. It felt very natural and like what would happen in reality.

1st off, the young girl main character is very pretty, which doesn't hurt. The acting by everyone is decent and the characters and situations seem realistic. Location shooting is one of the strongest aspects of this film. However, I wasn't quite satisfied. If it somehow went deeper I would have given it one or two more stars.

Because it appears that we have a ton of experts in underage prostitution. "So real", "gripping truth", etc. But seriously, it's a dark indie pick that depicts desperate people trying to survive in a way-to-expensive California while never considering moving to somewhere else or doing something else. It does a good job of displaying a white trash attitude and mindset.

This movie starts out with statistics about child prostitution. What should have been a cautionary tale turns into an excuse to have the lead actress in several sex scenes, some where she was actually enjoying the sex. Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude, but this didn't feel like it was trying to show me the worst of society, rather, I felt like I was being shown her body and her sexual acts in a style that sought to make them feel sexy instead of horrifying...which I though was the point of the movie.

There just didn't seem to be anything going on here and no real message. The movie Thirteen or Megan is Missing have more to offer as far as what can go wrong with at risk teens.