Nancy

This indie is an intriguing and haunting psychological "thriller", but not a thriller in the ordinary use of the term. There's just a constant air of melancholic uncertainty, so you just don't know which way the film is going to go.

The most talented Andrea Riseborough gives a terrific performance here as the introverted and depressive Nancy who's possibly a victim of abuse. She's been taking care of her ailing and carping mother (Ann Dowd), who has Parkinson's. Nancy is an aspiring writer, suffering through many rejection letters from publishers, while trying to earn money in temp jobs.

When her mother passes from a stroke, Nancy sees a TV news story about the 30th anniversary of the disappearance of a 5-year-old girl from a shopping mall. When see sees an age progression picture of what the girl would look like today, it bears a striking resemblance to her. Add to that, the fact that Nancy cannot find her birth certificate in any files at home.

She calls the parents of the missing girl and sets up a meeting with them, after sending them a photo of herself on her cell phone. The father (Steve Buscemi) is a psychologist and skeptical whether Nancy is their daughter, while the mother (J. Smith Cameron) is more accepting and open to the possibility. Both Buscemi and Smith Cameron are superb in their roles here.

I won't go into more details or write spoilers, but I'll say I was very engrossed as to which way this movie was going to go.

Overall, not the easiest film to watch because of its constant melancholic tone, but the fine acting from a most solid cast and its suspenseful atmospherics drew me in and kept me there. An excellent feature film debut from Christina Choe, who wrote and directed the indie.

It's a quiet flick. Very unhollywood and I did like how the story was fairly interesting without resulting in the usually Hollywood tricks like slap stick or melodrama At the same time the movie feels like a baseball game with a team trying to get on base and score versus going for the home run. I felt that the acting talent was not fully used to their full capability because I just did not feel the full impact of the story. It just falls short. Did hold the same quality as say Slow West, which I felt was a quiet movie that does hit you hard. Very bland.

This film tells the story of a woman who thinks she was kidnapped when she was a child.

Though the film seems to be about Nancy, I think it really is about the couple with the missing child. They go through emotional rollercoasters every time when someone claims to have information about their missing child. I particularly like the fact that the result of the DNA test is implied and not explicit. I feel rather sad about how the couple react afterwards. There are three speeches by the her mother which indicates the result of the DNA test : in the snow just before the hunting accident, during dinner and when Nancy is interrupted from saying singing. It is heartbreaking to see that the mother would rather settle for the present, than have another dashed hope. I think this is an engaging and heartbreaking story.

The acting is spot-on, but this quiet film leaves much to be desired. The word anticlimax comes to mind.

Other reviewers describe this as a sad film, some going as far as to label it "misery porn." I could have accepted some misery porn. But once you've seen The Swerve starring the Incomparable Azura Skye, the bar for something to be called misery porn becomes so much higher than Nancy reaches. Nancy is far from a feel-good film, but it's also a long way from the opposite thereof. It is sad, and quiet, and I expect to be forgetting it within days.

I did'nt know what to expect from this based on the reviews.

It is'nt my type of movie at all , I am more of a thriller/horror/mystery person, but I can see how people did like it , for what it is , a deep ,thought provoking drama.

I found it very sad , and was disappointed with the ending , too many unanswered questions , I suppose that was probably the intention here, but I feel that because it was so intense , it deserved a more complete ending.

Not for me , but do watch if you like deep dramas .