alyciawilson-59666 Review of Allure

Allure (IV) (2017)

Powerful portrayal of mental health and the domino effect of manipulation and codependency

[8/10 · 4 December 2019]

Wasn't sure what to expect... but both main actresses Evan Rachel Wood and Julia Sarah stone were incredible. The first scene made me think "I'm sorry... what the hell is happening?" But was intrigued as to how it would all play out and there are quite a few layers of manipulation of different characters and the effect on their behavior it can trigger if never dealt with. I saw someone say "too many impossible things happening," and I can say that during the whole movie I saw interactions that were immediately familiar to me through my own life in a codependent relationship and many of my friends in manipulative relationships especially with the extremely uneven dynamic such as these characters. Honestly Evan Rachel woods character is a stereotypical storyline of an adult who grew up never dealing with the abuse inflicted on them, especially that of a parent/family member where you can't always just escape your abuser... and then they go over board "taking care" of you almost like a penance they do out of guilt which a lot of the time will stunt the growth of maturity of the victim. I mean I think it was such a textbook storyline that I'm surprised some think it's fantastical.... but maybe they don't know as much about these types of situations in real life to recognize them. It's a rollercoaster for your emotions for sure. I was extremely uncomfortable with the intimate scenes because of the ages... but luckily the actress playing the teenage girl was much older than she looks... I kept thinking "please make it stop," but I think that's what makes those scenes so powerful... they were used to show the complete difference in experience and understanding of intimacy. I also read a review who complained something like "if you make a steamy preview then you should show it..... they always stop it right away," and if you're watching this to see some erotic lesbian scenes with a grown woman and a teenager then like this commenter you are going to be completely disappointed and should search that up on Pot hub. There's definitely a lot going on... and again I don't find a lot of it that far fetched like some who didn't understand these things... but again I'm very interested in sociology, mental health and am a survivor of sexual assault as well as physical abuse which I'm glad not everybody can say.... but I think they did a great job with the characters and the way it played out... except with Evans father in the movie... felt like that one was left with an ellipses. All in all the movie is driven by the emotions of the characters... not as many huge crazy events with a lot of background characters... but thought they did a pretty good job of it!