David Wade

Although I enjoyed the film’s twists, I object to the conclusion when authorities release the two boys locked away in that shabby trailer located who knows where. I am left with the knowledge that the female house intruder discovers the boys but is herself abducted by the killer. How could the police know where to find the missing boys? The female home intruder is dead. I can only guess that the male home intruder who had escaped the clutches of the real murderer escaped from that same trailer, but I can only guess. We have no actual evidence how the police knew where to rescue the two missing boys trapped in the trailer. Did I miss something, folks?

As for me, Brody’s performance held me fully interested from beginning to its ironic conclusion—ironic because I never suspected the principal as “the bad guy,” quoting Brody. When Brody breaks down at the film’s conclusion, I view this action as a cleansing of his mind and soul, a catharsis. Throughout Brody’s youthful years as a successful detective, he is hardened and fully devoted to solving the cases brought to him. As a youth Brody possessed a caring, worried conscience for the citizen welfare of his community. We never see the emotional side, the fragile side of his life. He’s hardened, but now he has the opportunity to let go of all those stored-up feelings, momentarily to release himself to recapture his youth now years in the past.

I like to think that Paul is going to link up with Mary-Anne once he heals. I envision the pair then headed westbound for California, where Mary-Anne’s youthful energy and potency provide the occasion for at least four children who will spring forth out of the union and eventual marriage of Paul and Mary-Anne.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film: great sound track that emphasized the unfolding drama; an appreciated degree of science fiction constructed in a reasonably acceptable way; a believable depiction of good vs. evil; convincing acting from all the acting crew; a conflict that forced me to think how the main character would resolve the conflict; a longing to see the follow-up film because the puzzling yet intriguing look on the face of the character we see on screen in the closing scene demands a continuation.

This film greatly disappointed me primarily because the main character’s conflict only attempts to reach a turning point, and there is neither turning point nor denouement. We are left with the main character fleeing the community by car, killing off as many as four or five community guards chasing her in cars, then reaching the forbidden building by foot, touching the glass building then groaning. We have no real clue what happens to her or to the controlling community to which she had belonged. Disappointing film, indeed.