Karen Royall

I really enjoyed this film, I thought it was pretty special.

I felt compelled to watch this film twice. It is an honest interpretation of the consequences of a doomed and complex marriage where two people made the wrong choice of partner. Both parents come across as selfish and self absorbed individuals licking their own wounds from a long standing mismatched union where neither feels heard or seen by the other. Sympathy is unfairly steered in the direction of the seemingly long suffering, bullied father. But, their styles of communication are mismatched and the mother’s frustration and sense of emotional isolation are there to see too. While he retreats because of her insistence to get him to reveal himself, she rages because of his inability or refusal to be open, honest and authentic so that she,too, can understand her life with him. They both lean upon their sensitive adult son to carry the weight of their failure to communicate with honesty. Brilliant acting and on watching it a second time, Annette Benning’s drawl doesn’t seem too noticeable.

I have just watched this film and I really enjoyed it. Good storyline and special effects, well acted and enough suspense to keep you watching in this moving and thoughtful drama of self-survival and hope in two different worlds. This film is not high octane but there are some great moments of excitement and the film had a poetic and dreamlike quality in parts. Well worth watching.