First I have to say Barbara Steele looks great to be as old as she is. She does a good job with her role. The movie itself is original, and different , and interesting enough to make you want to see how it ends. Worth seeing once.
Now the direction.... first as a writer JZ has good ideas but his writing is not very good. Might have been a better movie had he let someone else write the story based on his novel and ideas.
I liked some elements, like the girl Alice picking up older women and them paying her to spend time with them.
Had a top notch director and a good writer done this movie it could have been quite good.
the main character /villain being a woman who loved young girls, but was a horrible mother to her own daughter. she is also a sociopath, no remorse , and can kill with no remorse. she seemed to not like men at all.
the characters are all a little unrealistic, but at same time realistic.
The movie itself is confusing with the silly flashbacks, but the basic story is Ann wants to have her daughter back, or better yet to have another daughter, as long as she doesn't have to have a baby herself. the big surprise is what happens to Alice the smart girl who leases out her companionship.
**spoilers below***
Alice winds up like the butterfly's. the other young girl Julie is the one who sort of solves the mystery, and is Ann's undoing. Ironically Ann saves her at the end from being hit by a car, even though she was trying to kill her.
So overall I gave it a 6 due to being different and somewhat original. I will add the acting is good so the direction was good from that standpoint. The main problem was the story wasn't quite right, and need to not have the flashbacks.
Now the direction.... first as a writer JZ has good ideas but his writing is not very good. Might have been a better movie had he let someone else write the story based on his novel and ideas.
I liked some elements, like the girl Alice picking up older women and them paying her to spend time with them.
Had a top notch director and a good writer done this movie it could have been quite good.
the main character /villain being a woman who loved young girls, but was a horrible mother to her own daughter. she is also a sociopath, no remorse , and can kill with no remorse. she seemed to not like men at all.
the characters are all a little unrealistic, but at same time realistic.
The movie itself is confusing with the silly flashbacks, but the basic story is Ann wants to have her daughter back, or better yet to have another daughter, as long as she doesn't have to have a baby herself. the big surprise is what happens to Alice the smart girl who leases out her companionship.
**spoilers below***
Alice winds up like the butterfly's. the other young girl Julie is the one who sort of solves the mystery, and is Ann's undoing. Ironically Ann saves her at the end from being hit by a car, even though she was trying to kill her.
So overall I gave it a 6 due to being different and somewhat original. I will add the acting is good so the direction was good from that standpoint. The main problem was the story wasn't quite right, and need to not have the flashbacks.