This movie does start out well but, agreed as the dust storm hits so does the facing of the family issues which makes this movie much more complex since that is the mystery: Father uninterested in wife and mentions daughter is like mother; Daughter behaves as if she has been molested; Father questioned whether he molested daughter or not; Brother seems to be quiet; Mother seems obsessed with being wanted by husband because he is uninterested.
As anyone can see, there are definitely issues in this family to begin with considering the daughter had an affair with her teacher who was married with children and she is only fifteen. There are loose ends as they have moved to this new town very close to their old one. Rather than this film being about what is going on physically and visually, it is more about what is going on underneath mentally and emotionally.
The family moved into a "Strangerland" or possibly "stranger" relationships. It is about losing everything and they are each strangers with one other. The son and daughter seemed to bond but, really didn't. There was a separation when the daughter took off with snake tat guy and the little brother was left standing. This is symbolic. So, the father walks through this alone even though the mom is trying to reach out to him. The daughter is alone as she is self-destructive and shut off from her parents and is moving in a completely different direction than her brother. The mom is not connected to her children or husband and the son is just wandering aimlessly through this dysfunctional family. They are strangers to one another. The movie directs us back to take a look at the family when the daughter disappears.
I do not believe the movie to be perfect but, I believe those who rated it so weakly certainly need to take a much deeper look into it rather than a superficial one. The actors are fantastic, as they always are and I agree with other reviews about the filming and even the way the movie flowed that it was a refreshing break from American cookie-cutter type movies. I am not sure the plot is supposed to be so easily grasped because everything in this movie is complex. It is complex like the relationships and there is a lot of symbolism here.
As anyone can see, there are definitely issues in this family to begin with considering the daughter had an affair with her teacher who was married with children and she is only fifteen. There are loose ends as they have moved to this new town very close to their old one. Rather than this film being about what is going on physically and visually, it is more about what is going on underneath mentally and emotionally.
The family moved into a "Strangerland" or possibly "stranger" relationships. It is about losing everything and they are each strangers with one other. The son and daughter seemed to bond but, really didn't. There was a separation when the daughter took off with snake tat guy and the little brother was left standing. This is symbolic. So, the father walks through this alone even though the mom is trying to reach out to him. The daughter is alone as she is self-destructive and shut off from her parents and is moving in a completely different direction than her brother. The mom is not connected to her children or husband and the son is just wandering aimlessly through this dysfunctional family. They are strangers to one another. The movie directs us back to take a look at the family when the daughter disappears.
I do not believe the movie to be perfect but, I believe those who rated it so weakly certainly need to take a much deeper look into it rather than a superficial one. The actors are fantastic, as they always are and I agree with other reviews about the filming and even the way the movie flowed that it was a refreshing break from American cookie-cutter type movies. I am not sure the plot is supposed to be so easily grasped because everything in this movie is complex. It is complex like the relationships and there is a lot of symbolism here.