This documentary, set in Santa Clarita, Ca., and only 1 hr. and 10 min. in length, offers glimpses into the lives of several teens, as they try and navigate through friendships, relationships, religious beliefs, and just day to day living.
Of all the teens, I related most to Skye, whose mother lost custody of her two days after her birth due to a heroin addiction, her father was in prison, and her grandfather who raised her now faced foreclosure with no place to go. Despite all this, somehow she manages to maintain an openness and wiseness about her, well beyond her years,, and even displays a most witty sense of humor. I really felt for her and hope things worked out OK for her in her future after the filming was over.
Garrison and Kevin are the other two featured teens in the film. They're best friends but I felt their stories were incomplete and that the viewer only got disjointed snippets of their lives. They came across as flippant and, on camera, would at times bad-mouth even their closest of friends.
Another theme was a Christian Ministry which kept popping up throughout the movie to which apparently all three teens belonged. However, it was never really spelled out what the relationship with the ministry was in their lives.
In summary, the documentary, from filmmakers Jason Tippet and Elizabeth Mims, had its' moments but overall seemed too slow-paced and disjointed, and often only offered surfacy glimpses into the teen's lives that came across to me as staged at times.
Of all the teens, I related most to Skye, whose mother lost custody of her two days after her birth due to a heroin addiction, her father was in prison, and her grandfather who raised her now faced foreclosure with no place to go. Despite all this, somehow she manages to maintain an openness and wiseness about her, well beyond her years,, and even displays a most witty sense of humor. I really felt for her and hope things worked out OK for her in her future after the filming was over.
Garrison and Kevin are the other two featured teens in the film. They're best friends but I felt their stories were incomplete and that the viewer only got disjointed snippets of their lives. They came across as flippant and, on camera, would at times bad-mouth even their closest of friends.
Another theme was a Christian Ministry which kept popping up throughout the movie to which apparently all three teens belonged. However, it was never really spelled out what the relationship with the ministry was in their lives.
In summary, the documentary, from filmmakers Jason Tippet and Elizabeth Mims, had its' moments but overall seemed too slow-paced and disjointed, and often only offered surfacy glimpses into the teen's lives that came across to me as staged at times.