Quackdown

Just watched this for the second time because even after several years, I still find myself thinking of it often. It's a really nuanced topic - not defending the family's actions, but there are so many components at play. I'm glad they had experts/prominent figures on who came it at from different angles but all remained respectful of general Maori beliefs. It would have been easy to neglect that area and I do think that if this had been made outside of NZ, it wouldn't have upheld that level of respect and insight. The creators of this did a really great job.

Even just on a visual level, it's striking and immersive. Something about it also really brings forward the humanity of the people involved - they never come across as cardboard cutouts, which is a downfall of a lot of similar films and documentaries.

It's uncomfortable to watch and it's bleak. It will most likely stick with you. But it's a well made piece on a terribly sad story and if you're up to it, it's definitely worth watching.

I usually wouldn't watch something with a score below 5.2. This is currently at 4.9. But I took a chance and I'm glad! I'm fully convinced that the score comes down to the subject matter being divisive rather than the actual quality of filmmaking. No, conservatives probably won't like this. But frankly, there's misery for everyone involved by the end. It's feel-bad all around.

This might appeal to you if you enjoy movies like Soft & Quiet or Nothing Bad Can Happen. It's definitely not as harrowing a watch as those are, but it's more intense than average. There's gore but it's not a slasher by any means. Maybe a little Saint Maud-esque. Or Red State without all the action scenes. It feels like it tries to walk a line between reasonably palatable average thriller and something a bit more brutal and imaginative, and I think it could have been so much more if it had ventured a little further out.

The villains could have used a bit more fleshing out. If this movie had been given even ten more minutes, I think further developing the characters would have gone a long way.

This is a pretty decent looking film. It seems to have been done on a relatively low budget, but it was done well. The gory bits were surprisingly good, better than in many many high budget films I've seen. The acting was a mixed bag, but overall good enough to keep the movie going without any major speed bumps.

I think overall, the cast of this film just strike me as needing more experience. I'd definitely watch more by this director & screenwriter. There's so much potential there! But as for this movie, I'd still recommend it! As long as you aren't offended by themes of abortion & critique of religious fanaticism (extremists, not all religious folks).

I'm not one to review movies, in fact this is my first review in the three years I've been on IMDb, but I think it's important to give an honest opinion on this one since the rating unfortunately does not reflect the quality of the movie. I don't want other people to be sucked in as a result of ratings which I honestly believe are from people involved in the film.

I'm from South Africa and always on the lookout for good South African movies, but this was a disappointment and not at all deserving of its current 6.7 rating. The storyline was unoriginal and the effects were poorly done, the movie looked as if it was done on a shoestring budget, but what really let this down was the acting. I don't like to pick on individual actors' performances, especially those who are still trying to make a name for themselves, but the acting here from the lead actress was shockingly bad. It did improve slightly as the film went on, but it was pretty poor throughout. The rest of the cast were better, but still bad. The best performance was given by the guy who played Jules - again not great, but possibly some potential there.

A lot of what happened in the film didn't add up and it seemed to jump ahead at times, leaving me wondering if I'd somehow skipped a scene. It was incredibly predictable and just poorly done. I'll watch just about anything, but this barely held my attention. Really wanted to like it, but my rating of four stars is, I feel, generous.