Sob A Luz das Estrelas

Iris Deerborne (Kara Hayward) is a mousy ostracized teenager in 60's rural Oklahoma. She has a troubled relationship with her mother (Jordana Spiro) and a crush on similarly ostracized boy Jeff Owings (Lucas Jade Zumann). She is harassed by the boys when new arrival Maggie Richmond (Liana Liberato) comes to her rescue.

There is a bit too much here. There are too many characters and each one has their own issue. I had assumed that this was based on a book since filmmakers often try to stuff everything from the book into the movie. This is not based on a book. The writer should simply streamline this world. Not everything has to be there. When Maggie does the big reveal, the whole movie threatens to tip over like a game of Jenga. When there is too much going on, a character like Hazel Atkins doesn't have enough time and space to set up properly. Initially, I was concerned about Tony Hale. It seems like a desperate move to go against type or maybe Tony is trying to expand his range. Either way, he doesn't easily fit the role. He does redeem his worth by the end with a more complicated character portrayal. More than anything, this is elevated by the younger cast especially the two female leads. Both are worthy to do bigger things in the future.

The story is engaging because the central plot is slowly unfolded. There are clues along the way, but when it finally comes it really touches you. I feel sad for the women in the spotlight, as their hopes and dreams are quashed because they are not mainstream.

The acting was extremely well done, the plot - while not necessarily action driven - is done very well and the character development is fantastic.

I didn't know what to expect from this film, because I'd never heard of it and randomly picked it out for a Sunday evening flick.

The story is about an outcast, bullied high school girl in Small Town, USA (Oklahoma) who is so unhappy with her circumstances that she wishes she would disappear. Enter the pretty, cool girl from a bigger town who moves to the neighborhood and, from the start, sets out to help and liberate the bullied girl and help her find her way in life.

I won't give much away, but I wasn't expecting the turn the story took about 3/4 of the way in. I felt that although the "event" that occurred was hinted at, it all seemed to occur too late into the story. From this event forward, everything followed a predictable dive towards the ending like the movie couldn't get to the ending fast enough, so much so that several major story lines were left dangling on the prairie wind.

The acting is not bad at all, and the stifling atmosphere of small towns/small minds is well captured. But as much as the story was going somewhere most of the film, before taking a sudden turn and race, I wish it had either stuck to one main plot point or at least given the last 3rd of the film much more depth.

Overall, I'd give the film 6.5/10 stars and would recommend it being watched at least once.

To say too much about this movie would reveal some late story twists/reveals, but it really does a great job of capturing a time period and pulling you into the friendship between to seemingly opposite teenage girls (one confident and one shy/awkward). Not always an easy story to watch, as it shows the dark underbelly of a time period that we love to look at with such nostalgia and romanticism.