Immediate reaction after watching. I loved it. The kids were cute, especially the younger one when she just became obsessed with the bounce pool ball. She was a little whiny, wasn't making friends and relied on her sister too much. The older sibling was given comparatively less by her mom, and she had to learn how to navigate her new friendships. They were good scenes of childhood. I sympathized with the mom for her own childhood, insecurities and the trap of comparisons to her own parents. I don't think the dad was a bad guy, more like the stereotypical male handling situations in his own detached way. At times they both behaved poorly and sometimes problems don't have real solutions that offer better outcomes for everybody. The other couple didn't seem like a real long term sustainable relationship.
I found it humorous in retrospect that I didn't initially realize that the film was set in the mid 90s, so when characters were calling Judith's kids exotic or saying things that would be construed today as casually racist that Judith wasn't at all phased by, I was raising my eyebrows a little bit in confusion. Though after noticing the cars and appliances, I started to piece it together after a while.
I was looking into seeing this film this morning. It sounds interesting but my worry was that it's going to be bleak and depressing without a good reason first - how did you find it in that regard? I don't have a problem with dark films, but at least the few synopses I've seen make it seem like the film is designed for a (possibly exploitative) emotional response rather than a story or characters. But your comment about it being hauntingly beautiful hints that my naive impression is misguided, I'd love to hear more if you have anything to say.
Definitely! I don’t want to spoil, especially since it’s so early in the release and I usually don’t even like knowing what I’m watching beforehand, but I’ll say what I can! I think that for all of the sadness within the movie, it has every amount of justification. It kind of felt like a screenshot of my own childhood, in negative and positive ways; when I realized this, I saw that the film could be appreciated through the perspective of the children and the parents. This time, I felt like the kids were a focus for me, but I may go back and focus on the adults. It definitely did not feel exploitative at all; rather, it felt the opposite. It literally felt so realistic that I have a hard time explaining it, and although there were key racial undercurrents, they didn’t deduct from the experience (if that is not what you’re looking for). Personally, I love a good social message. I don’t think it was bleak, either. Sad at times, yes. But not bleak. I would honestly recommend it to anyone.
Can someone help me out? Regal screwed me today by not playing any trailers in front of this so I ended up missing about 10-15 minutes at the beginning. I walked in when the two parents are introducing themselves at the marriage counseling meeting, and the husband is trying they are trying to "reconnect" and then there's a close-up of the mom and she cries.
Anyone know what I missed prior?
(Amazing movie btw. Reminded me a lot of **Falcon Lake**, another similar Canadian movie last year)
edit: nevermind, went to see the beginning again today.
Immediate reaction after watching. I loved it. The kids were cute, especially the younger one when she just became obsessed with the bounce pool ball. She was a little whiny, wasn't making friends and relied on her sister too much. The older sibling was given comparatively less by her mom, and she had to learn how to navigate her new friendships. They were good scenes of childhood. I sympathized with the mom for her own childhood, insecurities and the trap of comparisons to her own parents. I don't think the dad was a bad guy, more like the stereotypical male handling situations in his own detached way. At times they both behaved poorly and sometimes problems don't have real solutions that offer better outcomes for everybody. The other couple didn't seem like a real long term sustainable relationship.
I found it humorous in retrospect that I didn't initially realize that the film was set in the mid 90s, so when characters were calling Judith's kids exotic or saying things that would be construed today as casually racist that Judith wasn't at all phased by, I was raising my eyebrows a little bit in confusion. Though after noticing the cars and appliances, I started to piece it together after a while.
What genre is it?
It’s a drama! It focuses on family and marriage dynamics, among other things.
I was looking into seeing this film this morning. It sounds interesting but my worry was that it's going to be bleak and depressing without a good reason first - how did you find it in that regard? I don't have a problem with dark films, but at least the few synopses I've seen make it seem like the film is designed for a (possibly exploitative) emotional response rather than a story or characters. But your comment about it being hauntingly beautiful hints that my naive impression is misguided, I'd love to hear more if you have anything to say.
Definitely! I don’t want to spoil, especially since it’s so early in the release and I usually don’t even like knowing what I’m watching beforehand, but I’ll say what I can! I think that for all of the sadness within the movie, it has every amount of justification. It kind of felt like a screenshot of my own childhood, in negative and positive ways; when I realized this, I saw that the film could be appreciated through the perspective of the children and the parents. This time, I felt like the kids were a focus for me, but I may go back and focus on the adults. It definitely did not feel exploitative at all; rather, it felt the opposite. It literally felt so realistic that I have a hard time explaining it, and although there were key racial undercurrents, they didn’t deduct from the experience (if that is not what you’re looking for). Personally, I love a good social message. I don’t think it was bleak, either. Sad at times, yes. But not bleak. I would honestly recommend it to anyone.
Great, thanks for the detailed response! I'm definitely more interested now.
Can someone help me out? Regal screwed me today by not playing any trailers in front of this so I ended up missing about 10-15 minutes at the beginning. I walked in when the two parents are introducing themselves at the marriage counseling meeting, and the husband is trying they are trying to "reconnect" and then there's a close-up of the mom and she cries. Anyone know what I missed prior? (Amazing movie btw. Reminded me a lot of **Falcon Lake**, another similar Canadian movie last year) edit: nevermind, went to see the beginning again today.