Bare

This is the worst movie I've ever been forced to sit through. Not sure how this even got made, luckily the general public will be spared as it won't ever be in a real movie theater.

Diana Agron and Paz De la Huerta are good actors but not in this film. It is pretty to look at, yet has absolutely no real direction or vision. There is no story, just fragments and half ideas thrown together. And despite being made by a woman director, it is full of the male gaze and old stereotypes. It's also extremely white and lacks diversity.

Plot synopsis: Poor young white woman in a small town who thinks her only way to escape is to become a stripper.

This is a very narrow-minded and contrived film with a formula we've seen a million times in bad 80s films. It's like the director just replaced the stereotypical bad-ass guy in a leather jacket with Paz De la Huerta.

Greetings again from the darkness. The debut feature of writer/director Natalia Leite takes on the all-too-familiar territory of a disenchanted teenager being smothered by a claustrophobic small town, and twists it into a nocturnal awakening that changes some lives, while leaving others forever jogging in place.

Sarah (Dianna Agron, "Glee") is a bored, young local in a small Nevada town. She gets fired from her job as a supermarket checker and spends her time hanging out with her boyfriend (Chris Zylka) and their group of equally unambitious friends. One day she stumbles upon Pepper (Paz de la Huerta, "Boardwalk Empire") who is sleeping in an abandoned store owned by Sarah's father. Intrigued by the drifter, Sarah allows herself to be drawn into Pepper's world of drugs and strippers. A quick trip to Las Vegas really opens up Sarah's eyes to the great big world, and also leads to some amorous feelings toward Pepper.

Clichés abound here as the mysterious stranger awakens the spirit of the small town dreamer; the taboo love story; the judgmental family and friends; and the "one last shift" to earn enough money to flee this small town and discover one's true purpose while living a carefree life. Pepper tosses out some philosophical musings and Sarah falls hook, line and sinker. We fully expect this to end badly for both.

Filmmaker Leite does a nice job of creating the feel of the night without judging its participants too harshly. Dianna Agron has the screen presence to pull off the innocent girl's self-discovery, while Paz de la Huerta has the mysterious quality of one to whom someone like the Sarah character would be drawn. It's interesting how Sarah is allowed to choose her own path, and explore the possibilities of what might be. At best, the film is one for a sleepless night, and it does provide two disparate female leads and a director who has earned more opportunities.

You can feel how the story portrays something real, unlike the superficial world we all pretend to play in. Although the people around her seem to be in control of their lives, thus knowing best; no one there is even close to noticing what is really going on right in front of them; yet the main character breaks these bounds. Judging anything, to include this movie one should be careful not to fall into the same trap as the majority of the people in script, because everything is valid, and we must look deep inside where we are not comfortable and see the real beauty in front of us.

Dianna Argon played her role in this movie wonderfully, always in tune with what I believe the director had intended. A promising career no doubt.

I caught this on NetFlix last night. I thought it was good, a good movie that tells the story very well and with excellent acting. I had never seen any of the actors before and was pleasantly surprised. This is a character drama without much action besides the interpersonal drama which I enjoy but maybe isn't for everyone.

The story will resonate with anyone who grew up in a small town and was bored and frustrated by that limited existence. Sarah Barton works at the grocery store, is bored with her job and her life, and looks around at all of the people still in the town and can't imagine growing up and living here her whole life. Her mother and boyfriend are in town but they don't do much to help her tolerate it. She wants something to happen in her life but doesn't know how to go about it.

In drifts Pepper, a classic charismatic drifter with a dark side, who befriends Sarah and leads her into a sordid world of striptease, sex and drugs.

I thought the interplay between the two leads was excellent and they clearly had chemistry and played their parts so well it didn't seem like acting at all. A scene near the end (no spoilers) where they both know they're lying to each other but are both pretending that they're not was played extremely well.

The scenes, supporting actors, and even costumes were so perfect for rural small town America that it was possible to believe every detail of the story.

The ending, while not completely "uncompromising" was satisfying and I thought both hopeful and realistic.

Overall a good movie.

I should have taken notice of the "real" reviews! I didn't really feel in the mood for an action movie or something which would need my deep attention, so I thought I'd give this a go. This movie was just bad. I can't see the point of making it except that whoever wrote the story, whoever directed it, whoever it appeals to must have had, or know a couple of women in that situation! I doubt it would appeal to a wider audience. The only people, women, it may appeal to are those who either lead such a life, want such a relationship, have been in that business, use drugs, are Bi or Lesbian... Guys, don't even think of wasting time with this!