Since I am a fan of off-the-cuff, non-mainstream movies, I decided to give this one a try. I wasn't disappointed. It was a great film on many levels. The entire cast worked together to paint a picture of pain and discomfort, and shinned a light on taboo subjects with beauty.
Directed by Ron Brown, Consent tells the tragic tale of a wealthy Manhattan family wading through the emotional wreckage of a recent death. By failing to face their heartache as a united front, each family member is sent down an individual path of self-destruction.
The teen siblings attempt to conquer their grief by confiding in drugs, alcohol and sexual taboos. Their parents also go about relieving their grief in all the wrong ways. Mostly by disconnecting from their own feelings, and ultimately, their own children. The parents are cold to each other and wrapped up in their own pain. They blame themselves by knowing their inattentiveness partly caused their oldest child's death.
Between her junior and senior years of college, before anyone knew her as one of the Pretty Little Liars, Troian Bellisario spent a summer in New York City, filming this intense indie drama.
Trojan plays the damaged, desperate and unformed character of high school junior Amanda. This is definitely a dark role for her, but she portrays it incredible well.
Amanda is spiraling down a dangerous path with an abusive boyfriend. She looks for love in all the wrong places. Her emotional handicap creates a particularly awkward situation for her older brother Josh, who is played with brilliant vulnerability by Peter Vack. Josh is the one constant in Amanda's life that she can always turn to and he finds himself on the receiving end of his sister's misguided search for love.
This is what the tragedy has done to them, but they have to go through these obstacles in order to discover themselves and heal.
Josh deals with the loss of his oldest sister Samantha by visualizing she is still with him. Josh sees her everywhere, and his grief is palpable in the fact that he can't let her go. He starts hallucinating and having conversations with her like she is really there.
"I hope that my fans support me in all of my work," Troian said in an interview with Hollywood Life. "While a lot of people may not be dealing with matters of incest, they are perhaps dealing with loss or sadness or simply trying to find themselves in high school, where everything is so grey. I hope my fans like the movie, and I think a lot of people will." "They have nobody else to turn to; they need each other," Troian says of Amanda and Josh's relationship. "And through them, you see how Amanda's version of love is so skewed. Some people might call it perverted, but it's really not her need for love that's perverted. It's just the way she seeks it." "None of these people are more equipped to help their own family than each other," Troian explains. "What's so tragic is that if they would simply speak about it — the loss, the grief, the heartache — so much of this would be avoided." The title of the movie is about the "consent" the parents have given themselves to ignore their children and wrap themselves up in a tragedy that's taken over their entire lives.
"It isn't necessarily about Josh giving consent to Amanda, but it's really abut the parents giving consent to their children to behave in these ways," Troian explains. "Without parental guidance, what are you saying is OK for your children to do in the world? What's most interesting about Amanda's character is seeing how far she'll go, and what toll it will take on her emotionally and mentally." The way the film is shot, and because the cast threw themselves into their parts, the film feels very real and documentary like. You feel like a voyeur where you sit and watch a family fall apart and ultimately hope that they come out of the darkness.
Consent is an important film because it speaks volumes of what could happen in any family if you live with your eyes closed and have no communication. If you have dealt with a close death or gone through dark times yourself, you will appreciate this underrated film.
For more film reviews visit Breakaway Daily http://breakawaydaily.com
Directed by Ron Brown, Consent tells the tragic tale of a wealthy Manhattan family wading through the emotional wreckage of a recent death. By failing to face their heartache as a united front, each family member is sent down an individual path of self-destruction.
The teen siblings attempt to conquer their grief by confiding in drugs, alcohol and sexual taboos. Their parents also go about relieving their grief in all the wrong ways. Mostly by disconnecting from their own feelings, and ultimately, their own children. The parents are cold to each other and wrapped up in their own pain. They blame themselves by knowing their inattentiveness partly caused their oldest child's death.
Between her junior and senior years of college, before anyone knew her as one of the Pretty Little Liars, Troian Bellisario spent a summer in New York City, filming this intense indie drama.
Trojan plays the damaged, desperate and unformed character of high school junior Amanda. This is definitely a dark role for her, but she portrays it incredible well.
Amanda is spiraling down a dangerous path with an abusive boyfriend. She looks for love in all the wrong places. Her emotional handicap creates a particularly awkward situation for her older brother Josh, who is played with brilliant vulnerability by Peter Vack. Josh is the one constant in Amanda's life that she can always turn to and he finds himself on the receiving end of his sister's misguided search for love.
This is what the tragedy has done to them, but they have to go through these obstacles in order to discover themselves and heal.
Josh deals with the loss of his oldest sister Samantha by visualizing she is still with him. Josh sees her everywhere, and his grief is palpable in the fact that he can't let her go. He starts hallucinating and having conversations with her like she is really there.
"I hope that my fans support me in all of my work," Troian said in an interview with Hollywood Life. "While a lot of people may not be dealing with matters of incest, they are perhaps dealing with loss or sadness or simply trying to find themselves in high school, where everything is so grey. I hope my fans like the movie, and I think a lot of people will." "They have nobody else to turn to; they need each other," Troian says of Amanda and Josh's relationship. "And through them, you see how Amanda's version of love is so skewed. Some people might call it perverted, but it's really not her need for love that's perverted. It's just the way she seeks it." "None of these people are more equipped to help their own family than each other," Troian explains. "What's so tragic is that if they would simply speak about it — the loss, the grief, the heartache — so much of this would be avoided." The title of the movie is about the "consent" the parents have given themselves to ignore their children and wrap themselves up in a tragedy that's taken over their entire lives.
"It isn't necessarily about Josh giving consent to Amanda, but it's really abut the parents giving consent to their children to behave in these ways," Troian explains. "Without parental guidance, what are you saying is OK for your children to do in the world? What's most interesting about Amanda's character is seeing how far she'll go, and what toll it will take on her emotionally and mentally." The way the film is shot, and because the cast threw themselves into their parts, the film feels very real and documentary like. You feel like a voyeur where you sit and watch a family fall apart and ultimately hope that they come out of the darkness.
Consent is an important film because it speaks volumes of what could happen in any family if you live with your eyes closed and have no communication. If you have dealt with a close death or gone through dark times yourself, you will appreciate this underrated film.
For more film reviews visit Breakaway Daily http://breakawaydaily.com