A good movie

Almost every year now, you have one small feature opening at Sundance which gets a massive push from critics and becomes a hit, at least critically. Well, this movie was a typical example and therefore, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, even though I really liked it, I can’t say I really loved it though. Basically, it is a rather dark and gloomy picture, with some really nice directing and rather flawless acting but I didn’t like their approach of showing a harsh reality while telling you at the same time ‘Don’t worry, this isn't actually reality, it is in fact some magic realism so you shouldn’t worry about the terrible fate of these characters’. I also didn’t like much the way they introduced the father who was displayed at first as a careless drunk douchebag but, by the end, it might be in fact the best father in the world after all. That was some rather cheap manipulation. Still, there was definitely something quite mesmerizing about the damned thing. Indeed, even though they obviously didn’t have much money, they created a detailled and organic world and most of the shots were very well done and beautiful to look at. And, of course, the very young Quvenzhané Wallis gave an impressive performance, she was only 5 years old when was cast and became, at 9 years old, the youngest person ever nominated for a Best Actress Oscar and will probably remain so for a long time. To conclude, even though it didn’t really connect with the whole thing, it remains a really intriguing feature and it is definitely worth a look.

7/10