Simone North has written and directed this film which opens with the statement 'The is a true story' of a kidnapping and murder of a 15 year old girl in Australia. North tells her story quietly until the brutality intercepts the horror of the incident reported: the film at that point becomes a visual reenactment of a nightmare of a broken mind. The Barber family appears to be a tender loving ensemble. Mr Barber (Guy Pearce, in a very subdued role) and Mrs Barber (Miranda Otto) are the proud parents of Rachel (Kate Bell), a beautiful and talented dancer who is studying ballet with her boyfriend Manni (Khan Chittendon): the scenes of these two beautiful young people dancing are elegant and sensual at once. The story jumps backward five years where we meet the babysitter for the Barbers, a strange girl named Caroline Reid (Ruth Bradley) who has severe psychotic problems and is unable to be controlled by her father (Sam Neill).
Back in the present Rachel and Manni have been at dance class but Rachel does not meet her father at the train, and soon it becomes obvious that Rachel is missing. Both the barbers panic and post signs of Rachel all over the city, doing their own detective work because the authorities refuse to treat the missing Rachel as anything but a runaway child. Slowly we discover the role of Caroline in the mystery. Caroline's psychosis includes self-mutilation and self loathing of her overweight body and clumsy appearance. She longs to look like and have the elegance of Rachel. How Caroline uses Rachel to achieve her dreams is the creepy ending to this forceful film.
Each of the actors is excellent but it is a tour de force for Ruth Bradley who gives evidence of a talent to watch. Not a film for the weak of heart but definitely a film that explores the machinations of a sick mind longing for a different identity.
Grady Harp
Back in the present Rachel and Manni have been at dance class but Rachel does not meet her father at the train, and soon it becomes obvious that Rachel is missing. Both the barbers panic and post signs of Rachel all over the city, doing their own detective work because the authorities refuse to treat the missing Rachel as anything but a runaway child. Slowly we discover the role of Caroline in the mystery. Caroline's psychosis includes self-mutilation and self loathing of her overweight body and clumsy appearance. She longs to look like and have the elegance of Rachel. How Caroline uses Rachel to achieve her dreams is the creepy ending to this forceful film.
Each of the actors is excellent but it is a tour de force for Ruth Bradley who gives evidence of a talent to watch. Not a film for the weak of heart but definitely a film that explores the machinations of a sick mind longing for a different identity.
Grady Harp