"It's land going to waste. Use it. Build a house for you and your girls."
Herself is the story of young mother Sandra who escapes her abusive husband and fights back against a broken housing system. She sets out to build her own home and in the process rebuilds her life and re-discovers herself. I had some high hopes for this one. Last year at Sundance, I head people talk about the movie and how much they liked it. Another intriguing aspect to me is how Clare Dunne wrote the screenplay and decided to take the lead role, but didn't direct it. Usually you see people write and direct, or direct and act, but it's uncommon to do just writing and acting. While Herself didn't exactly meet my expectations, the movie did hit some of the notes I wanted to make it a good movie. Clare Dunne leads both in an acting sense and by simply carrying the whole movie. She is really good throughout. I could feel for her the whole time and wanted the best possible outcome. Dealing with her partner's abuse and keeping her kids away from him becomes a struggle and what motivates the building a house idea. I liked seeing how everyone wanted the best as well and them coming together to help out with the situation. It's nice seeing a feel-good situation in a depressing matter. Meeting new characters and knowing some of their stories is nice rather than focusing just on these primary characters.
I'm not quite sure if it's a screenplay problem or an issue in direction, but they don't flow in a way that I wanted. The story is sad and it keeps that consistent throughout. Issue after issue spawns in the story where it doesn't come to a surprise anymore. About halfway through I had already seen so many tragedies that it didn't affect me much anymore. Except for the beginning and a final incident, I was so used to it by now that I wanted more. And at times it really feels like it's playing it safe. They could've done more but it was held back by trying to get that feel-good aspect. A few times they have upbeat music playing while building the house where it feels too motivational in a sense. That being said, it is a good screenplay and good direction. Just the two together didn't work out. Herself is still a good watch. Without the high hopes, it's just what you expect or need. This is a wholesome movie and a good kickstart release for 2021.
Herself is the story of young mother Sandra who escapes her abusive husband and fights back against a broken housing system. She sets out to build her own home and in the process rebuilds her life and re-discovers herself. I had some high hopes for this one. Last year at Sundance, I head people talk about the movie and how much they liked it. Another intriguing aspect to me is how Clare Dunne wrote the screenplay and decided to take the lead role, but didn't direct it. Usually you see people write and direct, or direct and act, but it's uncommon to do just writing and acting. While Herself didn't exactly meet my expectations, the movie did hit some of the notes I wanted to make it a good movie. Clare Dunne leads both in an acting sense and by simply carrying the whole movie. She is really good throughout. I could feel for her the whole time and wanted the best possible outcome. Dealing with her partner's abuse and keeping her kids away from him becomes a struggle and what motivates the building a house idea. I liked seeing how everyone wanted the best as well and them coming together to help out with the situation. It's nice seeing a feel-good situation in a depressing matter. Meeting new characters and knowing some of their stories is nice rather than focusing just on these primary characters.
I'm not quite sure if it's a screenplay problem or an issue in direction, but they don't flow in a way that I wanted. The story is sad and it keeps that consistent throughout. Issue after issue spawns in the story where it doesn't come to a surprise anymore. About halfway through I had already seen so many tragedies that it didn't affect me much anymore. Except for the beginning and a final incident, I was so used to it by now that I wanted more. And at times it really feels like it's playing it safe. They could've done more but it was held back by trying to get that feel-good aspect. A few times they have upbeat music playing while building the house where it feels too motivational in a sense. That being said, it is a good screenplay and good direction. Just the two together didn't work out. Herself is still a good watch. Without the high hopes, it's just what you expect or need. This is a wholesome movie and a good kickstart release for 2021.