This movie is a great example of a film that I wish had just been slightly better. A trio of sisters is surviving on an isolated ranch after an apocalyptic plague event has devastated their surroundings. One day a handsome young man, Ryan, arrives and the sisters' equilibrium, already shaky, falls apart.
The movie's strength, in my opinion, was the acting. Setting aside the actress who plays the youngest daughter (who had an odd pouting expression for much of the movie that I found distracting), there was good chemistry between the sisters and between the sisters and Ryan. The movie is at its best when it taps into the very real emotional conflict that arises when there is an emergency and the people involved have very different ideas of what is the best course of action. One sister wants to kill Ryan, the other becomes fond of him. One sister thinks they should leave the homestead, the other wants to stay. This conflict felt very organic, and the movie does a good job of keeping the character of Ryan ambiguous so that you don't know which sister is in the right.
In the movie's final act, the sisters face a different threat, and this is where the movie loses its footing. The final act tries to bring in themes involving both the plague and the little sister, and both of those things have been too underdeveloped in the first two acts. The little sister has no dialogue, and she is also not given any powerful non-verbal content--so when she is pushed to the center of the action it doesn't click. Characters assert different things about the plague, and yet I as a viewer didn't have enough of an understanding of the plague to know how to take their opinions.
The very end of the movie was confusing to me. I'm not sure if it's a case of the writer/director having a solid idea and just not conveying it clearly, or if it's a case of the writer/director not knowing how to end the movie and just going with something kind of ambiguous and vaguely sensical. Whatever the case may be, I felt let down by the conclusion of the film.
I watched this movie for free on a streaming service, and I think it's worth checking out. I just really, really wish it had landed the ending.
The movie's strength, in my opinion, was the acting. Setting aside the actress who plays the youngest daughter (who had an odd pouting expression for much of the movie that I found distracting), there was good chemistry between the sisters and between the sisters and Ryan. The movie is at its best when it taps into the very real emotional conflict that arises when there is an emergency and the people involved have very different ideas of what is the best course of action. One sister wants to kill Ryan, the other becomes fond of him. One sister thinks they should leave the homestead, the other wants to stay. This conflict felt very organic, and the movie does a good job of keeping the character of Ryan ambiguous so that you don't know which sister is in the right.
In the movie's final act, the sisters face a different threat, and this is where the movie loses its footing. The final act tries to bring in themes involving both the plague and the little sister, and both of those things have been too underdeveloped in the first two acts. The little sister has no dialogue, and she is also not given any powerful non-verbal content--so when she is pushed to the center of the action it doesn't click. Characters assert different things about the plague, and yet I as a viewer didn't have enough of an understanding of the plague to know how to take their opinions.
The very end of the movie was confusing to me. I'm not sure if it's a case of the writer/director having a solid idea and just not conveying it clearly, or if it's a case of the writer/director not knowing how to end the movie and just going with something kind of ambiguous and vaguely sensical. Whatever the case may be, I felt let down by the conclusion of the film.
I watched this movie for free on a streaming service, and I think it's worth checking out. I just really, really wish it had landed the ending.