The Wasting

The Wasting was a Canadian-British production that wasn't sure whether it wanted to be a drama or a horror film. The film focuses on Sophie (Lauren McQueen), an 18-year-old girl suffering from anorexia and seems to suffer from hallucinations, but she believes she's being haunted. There was a solid core for a film and Lauren McQueen did give a strong performance as her character degrades physically and mentally. But the rest of the film suffered from weak acting from the North American characters and the horror elements didn't become evident until the final third.

I fell asleep - I really did. It was that bad...The actors looked bored too, Im not surprised by the terrible repetitive lines they had to deliver from an awful script

I caught this movie the week it opened and am I ever glad I did. I knew nothing about it, except that Alexz Johnson was in it. That was enough to get me to the theatre, and once I was there, I discovered a really cool little movie. Its part horror, part coming of age, and I really appreciated that combination. It gave it many layers, and every scene and every line had a purpose. The story follows a teenage girl, Sophie, whose fights with her father lead to her becoming anorexic (he is a cook and when she refuses his food its like she's scored a point against him). She begins to see a supernatural being, but her friends and family think she is hallucinating. I won't say more than that, except that the story of what is really going on will keep you glued to your seat to the very end. The side-story of how her friends can't face up to her anorexia is also extremely realistic and weaves in seamlessly to enhance the main plotline. It works on all its levels because the acting is consistently excellent from the whole cast, even though most of them are not well known. The four friends are perfect. Alexz Johnson plays her best role yet as a strong, kind of mouthy woman who doesn't take crap. English actress Lauren McQueen plays Sophie without histrionics, but with a subtlety that makes you love her and believe in her. I think she is going to be a huge movie star in the near future. Sean Stevenson as her boyfriend is so sincere, he makes you truly care about his character. The chemistry between him and Sophie reminded me of Twilight (though it's not a vampire movie). Brendan Flynn as his brother Kai is an incredibly interesting actor to watch. For someone who looks the way he does, he seems so vulnerable and likeable that even when he's doing terrible things, you understand why. That's part of what I love about this movie: the characters are not cardboard cutouts. They all have a good side and a bad side, just like real people, and these four actors show us both sides to perfection. I'll add that the movie has a beautiful look as well. The cinematography is epic with amazing scenery and interesting camera work. For a small indie movie, The Wasting overall looks and plays like a much bigger movie. And it definitely keeps you thinking for a long time after you leave the theatre.

The idea sounded very interesting and creative, so there was enough to make one want to see it. The cover looked quite eerie. So saw 'The Wasting' with genuine interest and wanting to at least sort of like it even if it had many problems.

Seeing it, well 'The Wasting' certainly did have many problems and it is pretty much exactly the same feelings had when watching a few other films recently, except this had better acting. The bad news was that there was not an awful lot good, let alone great, about it, so it was difficult for me to sort of like it, the little that's good being far overshadowed by the bad. Having prepared myself to do that, that was disappointing. Not a terrible film or without redeeming qualities, and there is far worse out there of the genre and overall. Liked the concept for 'The Wasting', the execution was just wanting.

'The Wasting' at least didn't insult my intelligence. It at least didn't make me angry watching it. Despite giving it a relatively low score and negative review, it even didn't make me regret watching it altogether.

It started off quite promisingly in an unsettling sort of way and the film didn't look too bad considering the type of film it was, not high art which wasn't expected but not amateurish as was feared.

Setting was quite spooky at times as was the lighting and while the acting was not the greatest the actors came over as committed.

Unfortunately, 'The Wasting' did lack tension and suspense and the infrequent creepiness was never that eerie and rather obvious. The script is stilted and very repetitive while the direction tends to be static and pedestrian

Was let down by the story. Conceptually interesting and wasn't too bad starting, at least too there actually was one, but the dull pace, due to some very uneventful stretches in particularly the middle, and the muddled way it was structured, meaning things didn't make sense, cheapened things. The characters are flimsily developed and bland even though the actors do their best. It can feel vague and while nothing is intelligence insulting there is both ridiculousness and trying to take it too seriously.

Overall, lacklustre but not a complete waste of a great idea. 4/10 Bethany Cox

The reviewer who gave this 10/10 mugs to work the the filmmaker !