I think the direction of this movie could have gone two different ways. I say this because the director didn't make it clear.
Either this movie is a shallow look into split personalities, or it's a shallow look into the supernatural.
The first half of the movie is incredible. I was completely sucked in by India Eisley's performance. So much so, that I've watched the first half of the movie a couple more times just to at least get a better understanding of what the director intended to convey as it's not clear.
I think this is a look into split personalities. India captures the sullen, withdrawn teenager with a dismal self image perfectly. What now seems even more clever is that the director probably chose India because of how pretty she is, as he wanted the character to have natural beauty, but not realize it. This may have been brought on because of her parents, an overbearing father who promotes a toxic environment, and an ultra passive mother who seems to share the same disorder with her daughter, but tries her best to manage it.
The inciting incident could be the ultrasound she found, or looked back on, remembering her twin sister was deformed and allowed to die at birth, or did she? Could she be thinking she was the deformed one? Could she bear some kind of unfounded guilt for her deceased sister?
That's the extent of the depth I was able to pull from this movie, because the rest of the film was squandered into a weak teenager movie. The second half completely pulled me out of the story. The nudity was unnecessary, not targeting the right audience, especially because the character is supposed to be seventeen which was uncomfortable to watch, and the violence seemed way over the top and unbelievable, seeming like acts of narcissism, but then again, if you have a mental break and there's no one to help/stop you, the violence might seem senseless anyway.
I summary It's a shame to have such a strong premise/good acting and waste it with poor execution.
Either this movie is a shallow look into split personalities, or it's a shallow look into the supernatural.
The first half of the movie is incredible. I was completely sucked in by India Eisley's performance. So much so, that I've watched the first half of the movie a couple more times just to at least get a better understanding of what the director intended to convey as it's not clear.
I think this is a look into split personalities. India captures the sullen, withdrawn teenager with a dismal self image perfectly. What now seems even more clever is that the director probably chose India because of how pretty she is, as he wanted the character to have natural beauty, but not realize it. This may have been brought on because of her parents, an overbearing father who promotes a toxic environment, and an ultra passive mother who seems to share the same disorder with her daughter, but tries her best to manage it.
The inciting incident could be the ultrasound she found, or looked back on, remembering her twin sister was deformed and allowed to die at birth, or did she? Could she be thinking she was the deformed one? Could she bear some kind of unfounded guilt for her deceased sister?
That's the extent of the depth I was able to pull from this movie, because the rest of the film was squandered into a weak teenager movie. The second half completely pulled me out of the story. The nudity was unnecessary, not targeting the right audience, especially because the character is supposed to be seventeen which was uncomfortable to watch, and the violence seemed way over the top and unbelievable, seeming like acts of narcissism, but then again, if you have a mental break and there's no one to help/stop you, the violence might seem senseless anyway.
I summary It's a shame to have such a strong premise/good acting and waste it with poor execution.