Allure

Both actresses sell their roles beautifully. Here, it is the script and screenplay that just doesn't fly. Not helping at all were the many scenes in this film that were photographed with such dim lighting that it was hard to see what was going on! You really had to work hard to watch this movie.....literally. Screenwriter and film students will want to watch this one to know what NOT to do.

Laura (Evan Rachel Wood) is a house cleaner. She's troubled and sexually promiscuous. She starts a new job at a family home and befriends the teenage pianist daughter Eva (Julia Sarah Stone). Eva runs away from home and lives with Laura.

This has the greatness of Evan and a nice newcomer in Julia. The plot is pretty thin and some scenes are too quiet for stretches. Sometimes, it's giving these characters room to breathe. Sometimes, it's a slow nothingness. I like the movie but I would definitely condense it to give it more intensity. Also the filmmakers don't seem to know how to elevate the danger. The movie needs to pump up the tension especially with the first thirty minutes. It needs to squeeze in some higher stakes in every scene. This indie has a few smaller indie awards but it's not good enough to get to a higher level.

I personally love this movie I think its sexy and Alluring but traumatizing at the same time. The film focuses on Evan Rachel Wood and 30 year old woman that has suffered sexual and mental abuse. She's looking for love in all the wrong places to try to fulfill a void that she has within herself. So she turnes to a young girl (actually underage) and seduces her in to staying with her. The film just shows that abuse is no joke . She was incapable of loving the way a normal person can love. The film is really turbulent and she suffocates the girl to appoint where she doesn't know where to turn. It started out as a strong attraction but ended up that she felt obligated stay out of pity . The girl played by Evan was abusive sexually and mentally . To truly understand how powerful this film is you would have had to had gone through something like this. Its a great watch and Evan as usual plays a stunning androgynous female . This is a good watch if like realistic extremely dark and disturbing sexy films.

It became messy. The constant out of nowhere outbursts. I wish the script had been better structured, because it had potential.

If you are going to tease the audience with the seductive trailer, then you also need to show some of it, but unfortunately it kept getting cut short of anything ever happening, which you'll know what I am talking about if you see it.

The writers/directors should have focused on the relationship between Laura and the teenage girl, but it just seemed to go into other directions that it didn't need to. It could have been a better film with the manipulative relationship between the older women and the teenage girl and raising the stakes of her wanting to leave or be discovered.

It just got weirder and weirder. And the acting was good, so it's just a shame. There were a lot of calm moments and then out of nowhere -- craziness -- and not in a good way.

The subject matter was just not handled right. The movie just went down hill, fast - unfortunately. Just too many things happened that weren't believable.

If you've ever experienced an emotionally abusive relationship, this movie will probably ring true. I was intrigued by the way Laura was portrayed: not as a villainous one-dimensional abuser, but a woman in pain and inflicting pain. Evan Rachel Wood and Julia Sarah Stone had a great frenetic chemistry. Wood's obvious mental fractures and Stone's fear/sympathy combined to make a potent tension throughout. Many long, thoughtful silences and static shots. The camera work was brilliant. This isn't one of those films you'd pop in the DVD player on a Friday night, but I would recommend it for anyone seeking a quality character study.