This is far better than Director Jennifer Lynch's debut "Boxing Helena" Yet it still fails to excel in any of the genre's it explores. A good cast acquit themselves well with cinematography which is both easy on the eye when it needs to be, and visceral when required. Exactly what role father and executive Producer played is a mystery but the trade mark off-beat quirky David Lynch style ingredients do not fire on all cylinders.
As a straightforward murder/mystery with a twist it is fine. As a thriller it lacks pace, and as a torture/horror piece it fails despite some graphic, gory moments. The Coen brothers in "No Country For Old Men" understand that it is the threat of violence which can be so unsettling. Here, it is neither under stated enough for aesthetes, nor consistently gory enough for "carnage" fans.
At just over 90 minutes the story stays within its welcome. Told in flashback to "surveillance " cameras, the device works and is well constructed. The plot twist works insofar as it delivers a dramatic "gear change" to the story, but it also raises numerous loose ends which tend to irritate , rather than delight. Ultimately routine fare, but with enough promise to secure another film offer for Jennifer, I suspect.
As a straightforward murder/mystery with a twist it is fine. As a thriller it lacks pace, and as a torture/horror piece it fails despite some graphic, gory moments. The Coen brothers in "No Country For Old Men" understand that it is the threat of violence which can be so unsettling. Here, it is neither under stated enough for aesthetes, nor consistently gory enough for "carnage" fans.
At just over 90 minutes the story stays within its welcome. Told in flashback to "surveillance " cameras, the device works and is well constructed. The plot twist works insofar as it delivers a dramatic "gear change" to the story, but it also raises numerous loose ends which tend to irritate , rather than delight. Ultimately routine fare, but with enough promise to secure another film offer for Jennifer, I suspect.