Reunion

Cinematically, it's a beautiful film. I felt like I was there in the room with them. And I'm a true Julia Ormand fan from day 1. The house was everything here - another review hit it on the head - the house IS a character. The film itself felt a bit disjointed at best. I wish we could have delved deeper into what the father and mother did in that "office" as well as the hidden laboratory space. Excellent acting all around. Not sure it's something I'd want to watch again, and yes it was a slow burn to a bit of a mashup ending. Over all I'm glad we saw it vs not seeing it. New Zealand is absolutely a favorite of mine for it's dynamic filmmaking!!!

I've seen better bad family dramas masquerading as thrillers on Lifetime. Dysfunctional family, buried secret, obvious "twists"... nothing new to see here and nothing old done well.

Clearly the goal here was to get someone to call it "arthouse" (a term I despise because it implies not all movies are art) and like so many before it, takes some ideas that sound fine on paper but collapses under the weight of its own ambition.

Major Persona and Eraserhead vibes: the former in the way that the visualization was pretentiously permitted to eclipse the subject in a way that was comedic (the screen warps likes its a well used VHS). The latter in how the line between dreams and reality are (admittedly quite admirably) blurred along a theme of maternity.

This theme is fact is really used to beat you over the head, I thought the intermittent slides and lectures ultimately added nothing and where just the writers' lazy way to try and push their own obsessions onto a story that really wasn't made to convey them.

There is a smart story here somewhere. While the main focus is on a family visit that totally reminds us why we don't go home for Christmas anymore, flashbacks gradually piece together a much more intriguing story of sororal jealousy and parental manipulation.

Often melodramatic and sometimes even soapy, I want to give credit to an audacious attempt to not just be another paint by number family drama or teen scream. It tries to sort of have elements of both but even the passion clearly put into this work was not enough.

Fascinating in its own way just as much for what doesn't work for what does, I suspect if you saw it with someone you could talk about it for a while.

Super dysfunction junction going on in this mess that calls itself a family.. Movie was slow for 1st hour and started to feel like torture. But I wanted some answers to all the weird poop they showed us, strange images, creepy old drawings, flashbacks, weird black ooze, no packing skills at all. The last 25 minutes is probably best part of movie, but still left me with a ton of questions about that room and its contents. How was the mom planning to pack that hot mess up??? :o I felt sorry for Cara and then Ellie, but the parents can go straight to Hell for all I care. The 2 female leads did give great performances, but the movie is just all over the place, too many questions unanswered, and I wanted to hear the lecture they kept running in the background, but I may have well been listening to Charlie Brown's teacher because it was impossible to get more than a snippet or two of what was being said. I'm sure there are people who enjoy this style of story telling, but Most people won't. I have to say Pass on this or if you watch and get bored about 30 mins in to it, fast forward to last 25 mins and you will get as much information as watching the whole thing. If it was arranged differently, it might have been kinda good. I gave it 2 stars for the female leads and 2 stars for the cool old house and that ROOM! :O

A dismal movie that some may call a slow burn. I just call it "boring".. The entire premise of the film is to established a final showdown between mother and daughter.. And when it came it's totally dulled by imagery and more flashbacks, as if we didn't have enough of those already.. Both actresses did a fine job with the mess they were handed but just couldn't overcome it..