Restraint

Age gaps in relationships ... not uncommon I reckon. And just one of the many themes this movie takes under a microscope. Sometimes things happen and if you can't or won't talk about them, there is a fair chance of you going insane. Certain fruits or other things may help you get the taste of insanity too.

But it is not just that age gap, a previous relationship or a step daughter. Though the last part may very well be a large part of our main character losing her marbles as they say. I don't want to boil it down to "woman wants her own kid", because that is also not just it (if it even is something you can see in here).

So as you can see the movie might be way more complex in its themes and what it sets out to do. As many would argue though it is flawed and it does not always achieve or convey any of those themes to the viewer in a proper manner. You have to have love for the independent movie - the low budget kind that is very weird too. Because this is what you get here. Not great, bur far from bad too. An interesting dive into human psyche with quite the appalling ending (in a good or bad way you ask? Well I can't really answer that a certain way - because bad might be good or at least interesting even if devastating ... while good might be bad and pulling punches ...)

This okay but nothing to write home about. It just drags on and on, it doesn't really hook you so that you want to see what happens next. Talk about Debbie Downers, the depressed wife is enough to bring anybody down, even the viewers. It's so slow and there is so little character development that you don't care that much what happens. Pass this by unless you want to nod out.

The impossibly beautiful Caitlyn Folley delivers a knockout performance as the new bride of a dominant older man who has a young daughter from a previous marriage: We never really find out what happened to his ex-wife, but it doesn't really matter; We're more interested in what's going to happen to his current wife. Suspense abounds, and Folley portrays a depressive better than anyone since Annette Bening in IN DREAMS: She is mesmerizing to watch from the first frame to the last.

When I stumbled upon "Restraint" I hadn't even heard about it, nor did I know who was in it. But the movie's cover seemed interesting and it being a thriller definitely did help sell it to me.

I sat down to watch "Restraint" with no expectations. And now that it has finished, I must admit that I sit here somewhat feeling like 'was that really it?' I felt like director and writer Adam Cushman left so many unanswered questions and really didn't bring the movie full circle.

There were elements to "Restraint" that were rather interesting, just a shame that the script and storyline proved to be so slow paced, because that really deflated the rest of the movie, as it suffered from a stunted and hindered progression.

I can't claim to be familiar with the acting performances of Caitlyn Folley prior to "Restraint", but she carried this movie quite well with her performance. Just a shame that she didn't have a proper script to allow her to unfold her full potential. I don't think I've seen Dana Ashbrook in anything since the original "Twin Peaks", so it was sort of fun to watch him on the screen again.

"Restraint" was hardly an impressive movie, given the fact that the storyline served as an anchor dragging the movie down. It failed to adequately entertain me, and I must admit that my attention was failing a couple of times throughout the prolonged duration of this movie.

The storyline felt too forced and too generic, it there was no ups or downs to the movie, it just trotted on along a straight forward path with no twists or turns, which made for a less than mediocre movie experience.

Squandered potential, that is really how the movie can be summarized.

Boring characters with no chemistry saying & doing a bunch of boring things with no rhyme or reason. No character development, background, nothing to help the viewer care or want to make sense of this. I gave it 1 star because the bland script & dialogue actually helped me fall asleep. Do yourself a favor, skip this!