As someone who suffers from agoraphobia, the fear of open spaces, this movie does NOT depict it well at all. First off, the blinds in the truck would of been well enough to get across the desert--if someone had the nerve to even ride across a desert with this disorder anyway. We may be afraid of open spaces, but we sure aren't going to be putting ourselves in a tight box either to avoid it. Another thing, they should of interviewed an actual agoraphobe and had them work with Bella to get the acting right. If one of us found ourselves in the desert, we would be doing one of two things--standing frozen still with our palms slightly out and them sweating, while occasionally making jerky movements in response to any noises, etc happening, or moving quickly to the nearest thing we can grasp on to. Tunnel vision for us is NOT to the ground. It would be to whatever object we can be finding some safe solace from, as we quickly make our way to it to grasp on to it as though our lives depended on it. When someone has agoraphobia, they feel as though gravity is going to give out and they will lose all control of their body and environment. We feel as though we will be lost to the sky. We can literally feel the air that surrounds us to a degree most people will never understand, because our senses become that aware when we are in these types of environments and are on edge. If they wanted to depict this, they should of focused on the sky, the vast open space of the desert that goes on and on...the frantic glancing around looking for something to run and cling onto. They should of focused on her hands, held out and sweating--used some sort of sound effect to symbolize the vast openness surrounding her. There was so much that they could of done to make this movie actually about her battling agoraphobia, but they didn't. If they didn't mention she was an agoraphobe in the movie, then there is not one thing that actually depicted her being one. She just looks as though she had some other disorder.
