Hindsight (I) (2008) User Reviews

OK, but not a favorite

[furlong · 4/10 · 2 July 2009]

The prior reviewer is right about one thing and that is that the lead actress just doesn't carry this off. FYI to that reviewer...she DIDN'T survive. Didn't you notice that the cab driver's name is Peter (as in SAINT PETER) and she for no apparent reason starts telling him all her sins on this ride to no where in particular? Then in the end Peter just says it's "time to go" when all along they've been going no where and in no hurry. She's dead dude and that's supposed to be the big "revelation" at the end as to why "Peter" talks her through her sins and gets her to admit them and feel bad about them so she can enter heaven. Anyway it's pretty corny and let's face it the plot is just downright odd with far too many over reactions by all the characters within the story to be believable. I don't care how much that woman wanted a baby, one look at these people should give anyone pause about whether those are the genes you really want in a child you raise. Hate it, though, because Jeffrey Donovan definitely should get better uses of his skills than this wreck.

Not a bad little THRILLER.

[TequilaMockingbird63 · 6/10 · 9 September 2008]

Pretty good actually!

Pluses: Smokingly hot Lenor Varela as Maria, Charismatic Jeffery Donovn as Paul, Handsome Waylon Payne as Ron, Long time character favorite Richard Riehle as Peter.

Minuses: Miranda Bailey as Dina.

In nut shell: Dina and Ronnie are vagabond shysters who live out of a stolen truck. Dina gets pregnant from her "seemingly sweet" but shady boyfriend played by the remarkable somewhat new comer Waylon Payne (Jerry Lee Lewis in "Walk the Line"). Thru the internet they find a couple that can't have children. This couple has money. Lots of money. Here the drama unfolds. They plan to sell the baby to the rich couple but have "ulterior motives".

The film is actually very clever. Lots of plot twists. Lots of thrills. Everyone in this film does a great job. My only problem was Miranda Bailey. She is JUST NOT a LEADING LADY. Unless you just happen to run the production company Ambush Entertainment that made this film. (Ahh, now it makes sense). She is a fine actor. No problems in that department but in comparison to the top notch performances of those performing next to her she makes this look more like a student film rather than the low budget film festival circuit independent that it is. She is not a leading lady. Sorry no offense. It got pretty creepy at the end!! But I don't know how Dina would have survived what Maria did to her so I was a bit confused? But "A for effort". It's certainly better than any film I've ever made.

decent horror/thriller

[sieve9 · 6/10 · 15 May 2009]

Dina and her Boyfriend Ron( Waylon Payne) are drifters in desperate need of some money. When Dina(Miranda Bailey) learns she is pregnant, she has the idea to sell their baby to a rich couple who is just as in need for a child as they are for cash.

They find Maria and Paul( the corrupt detective from The Changeling), who are a wealthy couple from a gated suburban neighborhood wiling to spend whatever they have to for a child of their own. To finalize the transaction, the couples meet at Maria and Paul's for some get to know you conversation and games. From here, the movie is full of plot twists, betrayals, suspense and action.

The movie started off a little slow for me, but all the surprise plot twists and the ending definitely make it worth the watch!!

What?

[pipdanelle · 13 April 2022]

So your throat is slit. Your stomach cut open to have a baby ripped out. Somehow you survive? Was fine till the end made it trash! Don't waste your time! The throat slashing was enough to kill her without immediate help. Then you cut out a baby. But she lives? Who saved her? How was she saved? But evidently if you hit a guy over the head he will most certainly die?! Could have been a great horror flick. To bad it sucked in the end!

Pretty Ridiculous

[igplatt93 · 3/10 · 13 March 2013]

This movie is cringe-worthy. The characters are unrealistic and none of them are likable. THey are confused characters who are poorly developed. I can't decide if the acting was bad or the characters were just written terribly. I do however like the concept. It has a lot of potential. A movie about a couple wanting to get pregnant to get money for selling the baby and a couple who wants a baby so badly they will do anything for it— even resorting to conning their baby mama. Two couples whose desperation blurs their morals. SOund like an awesome concept that could be turned into an awesome, twisted horror flick. It could be like one of those scary movies that are genuinely good and interesting, with more depth to them than your average scary flick in which the sole purpose is to scare the nuts out of you instead of tell a story. However, this film was executed poorly. While it was clever for the main actress to be looking back at the story, I thought the man she was hitchhiking with was not a big enough apart of the film. He should have been a bigger part or not a part at all. It was awkward. And then there's the ending... which is just makes me feel like watching the film was a waste of time. They were going one way and then went a whole other direction at the end. There is a twist though that is pretty cool if you figure it out!

dark dank and doesn't quite work

[dbborroughs · 5/10 · 5 June 2009]

Jeffrey Donvan headlines in a flashback tale of two poor as dirt drifters who end up with a baby on the way. Hoping to sell the kid for upfront cash before disappearing into the wind they run into a couple with other ideas and a nasty edge.

Dark dank and unpleasant neo-noir works in its own dark way. The question is will its sleazy edge click with you or not. The film didn't really click with me and I kind of floundered around as the nastiness happened on screen. Its a not a terrible movie, but I get the feeling that if Jeffrey Donovan wasn't in it this film might have not been released very widely. Some where around five out of ten, you'll have to decide for yourself.

No Suspense

[RMS1949 · 2/10 · 28 May 2009]

Totally violates suspense writing 101. You already know she survives the ordeal in the beginning of the movie.. duh ???

And having seen the scenes in the trailer and the poster,, there was NO surprises whatsoever..

The actors did okay with the material before them and I could look at Miranda Bailey anytime. (smile)

Why is it that almost every movie with a pregnant heroine always seem to fall into a sense of her unavoidable doom. From "Rosemary's Baby" to last year's bloodbath "Inside". Just once I would love to see a different approach. ( I don't count "Cord/Hide and Seek" or "Hush" as I never even bought the premise that the heroine was even pregnant, they acted more like a pillow was stuffed under her shirt") At least in this film, you do feel she is due any second.. Maybe someone will make a movie about a 9 month pregnant Sarah Brady who fought a knife-wielding female maniac for 20 minutes and won. :)

Thrills and a hidden social commentary...

[Northevenstar84 · 7/10 · 27 May 2009]

Dina and Ronnie are a couple that live a carefree life taking what they want from others. They don't pay their rent, they steal cars, and don't seem to care about the consequences. All of their fun comes to a screeching halt when Dina discovers that she is pregnant. They have no way to provide for a child, so they decide to sell their baby to a desperate couple they find online. Paul and Maria live the perfect suburban lifestyle with a brand new model home and expensive cars, but what they really want has always been denied to them. They cannot have children. The action begins when the couples meet for the first time. Immediately it becomes clear that nothing is what it appears to be. Tension builds as ulterior motives are uncovered on both sides of the deal, and what was supposed to be an easy con for Ronnie and Dina spins violently out of control.

The film opens with Dina hitching a ride with Peter, and she recounts her tale through a series of flashbacks. It's a interesting choice for a thriller. If not handled carefully this kind of narrative structure can ruin the momentum of a film, especially one that relies on thrills. However, this film has something more to offer. The best kind of horror film is the one that focuses on social issues or stigmas and turns them around to show us what we are really afraid of. Hindsight is about choice and the consequences of materialism. How much is one baby worth? Or that boat in Florida? How far will you go to get what you want? And why do you want it in the first place? That last question is the most important. It all comes back to morality, and, of course, a nice little twist ending to tie things off.

Technically the film is sound. It has some great thrills, built up by creative use of sound and lighting design. The actors deliver well enough and the plot has enough turns to keep people guessing. There's enough gore to keep the spatter crowd entertained, and some depth for those of us who like to look in to film a little more deeply. All in all, definitely worth your time.

Thriller Without the Swell

[megan-deleon1 · 4/10 · 4 June 2009]

Paul Holahan's HINDSIGHT has a unique premise presenting us with the theme of being blinded by one's hidden agendas. When Dina and her boyfriend, Ron decide to sell their unexpected baby to desperate Maria and her husband, Paul, all four of them allow their wants to take over them and lead them to an unethical dark side in themselves. The film had a chance to be a thriller with substance, rather it showcased its theme repeatedly giving the thrilling moments less sting so tonally the film bordered on drama. Cutting back to Dina in the present, her narration and freeze frames made the situations at hand less frightening and less significant. Peter, the driver that picks Dina up in the beginning, states the theme through dialog even though the action in the past works as subtext to show us what the theme is. Further, Dina speaks so casually when she narrates and no one screams when they are victimized (except for when Maria and Paul argue over cutting Dina's belly open). It seems as if the musical cues that lead up to these big moments (like when Paul first attacks Ron) lead up to nothing because the tension is lost when important events happen. After Paul attacks Ron, there is a cut back to the present in which Peter tells Dina she thinks nothing is her fault. Then Dina repeats that statement by narrating that we probably think this is her fault. The attack on Ron should have been the turning point in which everyone turns against each other, but it is downplayed. Foreshadowing should cause tension in a thriller, but foreshadowing is lost when Dina says what is going to happen next. There is good parallel action placing Dina and Ronnie versus Maria and Paul and there is a good arch for each of the characters in which they change when their sight is narrowed in on their desires. The most exciting scene is when Paul taunts Maria to cut open Dina's belly. It put everyone against each other singularly and it revealed character, especially Maria's, using a kind of suspense where one must look away. It then gave reason for Maria's character to choose to do what she did at the end. It is well-written, but the form of the film takes away from the story. The film has depth and is intelligent unlike many thrillers, but the thrill is lost.

A woman recounts the story of how she and her boyfriend attempt to simultaneously remedy their financial troubles and an undesired pregnancy

[brayneded31 · 7/10 · 26 May 2009]

This film has very well-written script. The characters are nicely-paralleled, simultaneously mirroring one another in their fundamental psychological struggles and diverging in their drives, desires, and ideals. The whole storyline is a psychotic eruption of social inadequacies combined with the ever-present question of whether or not our actions are to be judged by an absolute morality.

With regards to character development, the script may have been better carried by stronger acting -- the internal development was present, but was not sufficiently layered within the characters.

Overall, the film is sufficiently suspenseful to hold the attention of the audience.

In plain sight, just a typical American crap (web)

[leplatypus · 4/10 · 3 September 2013]

What's this film is about? A couple of losers where the girl is pregnant wants to con a rich couple where the wife can't conceive. For that, they lure them with the adoption of a baby. The two couples must agree by meeting at the splendid house of the future parents.

Then, it's big rubbish! The couples fight each other and their own team! Every one is beaten, locked up, then escapes and start another round! The hitchhiking of the pregnant girl interrupts all this. Maybe there are twists in the plot but i don't have understood it. At the end, maybe the best moment are indeed the road trip as it has flavors of Spielberg's "Duel": a deserted Californian road and a car running! It was good to meet again Leonor: sure, she is convincing as a woman that wants to be a mom at all cost, but, her characters as the others are really dumb! Ah, i was going to forget: the one truth about this movie is that it recalls the power of the riches concerning babies: with all their money, they can easily buy the child of the very poor. Here, the baby is white but nowadays, they "shop" in African or Asiatic countries! Sure, this subject needs a movie but not such one!

alternative ending

[mary_prelle · 10/10 · 30 May 2009]

I watched this movie and totally enjoyed the premise. I have not seen to many movies about pregnant women fighting off the would be baby snatcher. But I was left hanging at the end. No way she could have survived this onslaught to her body without immediate medical help. So flash to what is happening between her and the old guy in car. He picks her up and the story is told to him. He advises her and gives her some guidance as to rationale of both sides involved etc. We never know who he is or where he is taking her. Could the reality of the film be that he is a spiritual envoy taking her soul somewhere because she in actuality died? This is just a thought because otherwise how the heck did she get out of that situation alive. I really deplore movies that have no ending explanation.

Baby for sale

[jotix100 · 6/10 · 1 October 2010]

As the story begins, we watch a woman that appears to be a bit disoriented, walking with a baby in her arms singing a lullaby. A narrator informs us that it is her baby, but the woman carrying the infant is not really her mother. The action changes to a highway where a young woman, Dina, is seen trying to hitch a ride. A station wagon stops and she enters. The driver, Peter, appears to be a kind man that takes a big chance in giving this woman a ride. Dina begins to warm up to the older man. His demeanor elicits confidence in her, as she begins to tell him her story, that on the surface appears to be something, but is it really what happened? The viewer better pay attention because there are clues along the way that explains the situation.

Dina and Ron are white trash lovers. Ron is a petty thief that has not amounted to much. His ambition is to get enough money to buy a boat and sail out of Florida. When Dina becomes pregnant, Ron is upset. Since they have nothing to do legally, they decide to capitalize in an unexpected asset: Dina's baby. The couple realizes there are desperate women that will do everything in their power, and will spend an incredible amount of money in getting a baby by whatever means.

Maria, is such a woman. She's a doctor, apparently successful. She and Paul, her husband, live in a dream house. They have bought the model home in a new rich development. Paul is a lawyer and he wants to get Maria the baby she cannot have otherwise after a few trials and miscarriages. When Ron and Dina arrive at their place, they have already figured in their minds what they really want to do with this couple.

Paul gets wise to their guests' real intentions. He tries to tell his wife, but she is too intent in buying it from Dina. There are indications early on that the couple is up to no good. Ron gets aggressive, never expecting that Paul is a formidable opponent. Maria, a diabetic, suffers a seizure. After all the fighting, there are only two people standing, Dina and Maria. Being a doctor, Maria figures out a way to get what she really wants, but cannot have otherwise.

The premise for this film is deceptive. Director Paul Holohan, who has worked in television, was trying his hand in films. Working with Brooke Purdy's first screenplay, he created a horror drama in which what is real and what is not interplay in the story. We are surprised by Dina's frankness with a total stranger. Not only that, Peter sits in judgment, although his own take on what Dina has been telling him during the trip does not become known until the last part of the story. Then, it makes sense what we saw at the start and what is really happening at the end.

Leonor Varela, the Chilean actress, has some good moments as Maria. We did not care much for Miranda Bailey's Dina. Jeffrey Donovan, Waylon Payne, and veteran actor Richard Riehle complete the cast.

An Intense Thriller...About Pregnancy.

[Navajas · 6/10 · 10 July 2010]

This is a movie that slipped under the radar, and now appears to be trying to gain some notoriety because it stars Jeffrey Donovan of the TV series "Burn Notice." I have to admit, it was a selling point for me, although the version I own came from a four-movie set that was sitting in a bargain bin.

The story follows a young woman, Dina, who is unexpectedly pregnant and schemes, with her boyfriend, to sell the baby to another couple over the internet and, well, take the money and run. She tells her story to an older man who drives her to an unknown destination and tries to sell her "Jump to Conclusions" mats.

Naturally, the plan does not go well, and most of the action takes place in one location--the home of the richer, more successful couple.

The acting and action in this movie is actually pretty good for such an obscure find. Jeffrey Donovan is both intense and funny, and despite his natural smugness, he comes off as the most reasonable character.

Clever Thriller

[MirandaBailey12 · 12 May 2009]

The movie starts off with the ending like so many Indies these days. Dina (Miranda Bailey) is hitch hiking across a deserted highway and then picked up by a driver (Richard Riehle) to whom she tells the story of how she ended up on that road, that day. She starts with her boyfriend Ron (Waylon Payne). Where we zip to a scene where Dina and Ron are having wild sex in a shabby motel. They speed off leaving no pay for the hotel owner and stealing the room's TV then speed down the road where we see they are living out of their car. Soon enough they find out that Dina has gotten knocked up and they have no way of raising a child. Then we meet Maria (Leonor Varela) and Paul (Jeffery Donavan). A rich yuppie couple living in an up and coming gated community where they live in the model home. Dina and Ron show up 8 months later pregnant. They have made a deal with the rich couple to "adopt" or sell their unborn baby. However, during the visit, where they play an extended game of Pictionary we see that neither couple is who they say they are. Thrills ensue. Paul gets beaten up, Ron gets stabbed, Dina gets locked in a closet, and Maria wants the baby. She will do anything for the baby, even if it means betraying her husband. The film goes from the story to the car ride where Dina tells her story, so one assumes she survives the ordeal. However, the ending is a HUGE surprise, and what we thought was happening really was not. Performances are rock solid. Direction is on par. To gruesome for some in the end I sure, but worth a watch.

Entertaining piece of work

[rod674 · 7/10 · 12 September 2012]

While certainly no Hitchcock masterpiece, this movie is nevertheless an entertaining way to pass some time. The film's cast is solid, from Miranda Bailey as Dina, to the always fantastic Jeffrey Donovan as the suspicious Paul. The premise is relatively simple- a desperate vagrant couple looks to make some quick cash by unloading Dina's baby on a childless rich couple. However, the artistic device used to convey the story is the repeated flashback while Dina reveals the story to a stranger. I personally did not know what to make of her opening up to the stranger like that, but other posts on here seem to have a better grasp on that, so read those if you want a tiny spoiler. Otherwise, the story is your run of the mill thriller. It'll keep you shocked, and even in suspense. One thing that bothered me was the darkness during the film's end points. Was hard to see what was going on! However, you make it out, and the action that unfolds is enjoyable to watch.

Very Original

[aqos-1 · 8/10 · 11 August 2009]

This movie is about an irresponsible young couple that live in their car with no means of support. When they find out they are expecting, they see their unborn baby as a way to make money. They research many couples on the internet (how do you have internet with no place to live?) and visit a prospective couple. A couple they have seemingly chosen as the adoptive parents. The couples come together and things go well as long as the baby's biological father can keep his true nature under control. He gets angry and slaps his pregnant girlfriend which makes the adoptive father question whether or not they are making the right choice with this adoption. It is from this point that things start beginning to take twists and turns. You may be able to predict how the movie is going to end, but the trip to the end is an enjoyable one.

A good flick, for those who are into the genre.

[heroesfangirl18 · 10/10 · 5 November 2012]

I'm not sure why "Hindsight" didn't get more stars on IMDb than it did. Maybe because not many like to see Horror Movies / Psychological Thrillers that involve gore as well as the whole cast (minus one) kicking the bucket.

Through the film, I found the criminals to be very well hateable. Just as the supposed 'good' couple were. The premise is that the criminals are selling these people their unborn baby. And, of course, things don't go all according to plan.

Please note, any film that has me disliking the characters to the point where I'm actually *looking forward* to and anticipating their deaths, is an automatic win for me. So this review may be a bit...um, biased.

I don't know, maybe I'm weird in the sense of satisfaction I get when the climax hits and blood starts spilling? But maybe not. I mean, that's why these movies are made--there's a fan base for it.

To give you an idea, I especially enjoyed seeing that goody two-shoes rich woman when she gave up on morals, basically said screw it, and just carved the baby she so badly wanted out of the trailer park girl's belly.

This film is *not* for the easily offended, or the faint of heart.

The film -- while a little silly, and predictable what with the running background commentary -- rang in at a solid 10 out of 10 for me. :) I had no complaints and was very content by the time credits rolled.

Basically, I'd recommended the movie "Hindsight" to be watched by those Horror fans who are like me. Able to take things with a grain of salt and sense of humor, without getting moralistic, opinionated or their panties in a bunch. And let's not forget, you might also want to have a good sense of being able to enjoy the watching of a dislikable cast of characters bite the dust when watching the film. ...because bite the dust, they do.

If these attributes and elements sound like your kinda thing, then the movie will go over all right and you'll have a good hour and some minutes killed dead.

If not you are sensitive however, don't even bother -- you'll only end up feeling bored, sickened or scarred, probably by the chop shop C- section scene at the end. So you might choose to find your time better spent (and your sanity saved) by popping in the latest Twilight flick, or something of the like.

A very original and clever movie!

[hansdewolff · 9/10 · 20 January 2010]

This movie was a big surprise! The premise is very original and the script, the direction and the overall acting is actually very good.

It's about two couples. There's this vagabond and petty-criminal couple that all of a sudden is confronted with an unwanted pregnancy and come up with the plan to make some money out of it by offering to sell the baby to as much high bidders as possible, with the obvious intention to cheat them all by running off with the down payments. And then there's this counterpart couple, very well to do yuppies that are desperately in need of a baby and are ready to do anything to get it. Both couples meet, and what starts off as a friendly and business-like confrontation eventually deteriorates into a psychological and physical battle to the death.

The story is hung up on an afterwards "confession" that the woman of the first couple does to a stranger (Peter) who picks her up at the start of the movie as she is seen hitch-hiking along a deserted road in the middle of nowhere. She tells him her side of the gruesome story (which we see illustrated in flashbacks) and he comments on it in a more or less moralistic and stern, but on the other hand open-minded way, by which she is forced to reflect on her own deeds. Hence of course the title "Hindsight".

After the movie I was a bit puzzled by this chosen form. What did they mean by it? A sort of catharsis for this woman? A moral judgment? Problem was, that the woman could hardly have survived the deadly attack on her that we witnessed in the last flashback. So how come we see her walking safe and sound along the road? Well, I like to see myself as an intelligent and experienced movie-watcher, but I had to read some of the comments here on IMDb to see the light: the woman was already dead and while she was on her desolate way to afterlife she was picked-up by Peter (!) who gave her the opportunity to relief herself of the burden of her bad deeds and choices. Wow, I felt so dumb and instantly I liked this movie even better for this very subtle twist!

The movie is made with an obvious low budget, with only four actors (five, if you count the Peter character in), and most of the action takes place within the confinement of the second couple's house in the period of one and the same evening, so it's more or less like you're witnessing a theatre play. This feeling is enhanced by the sparkling and very clever dialogues between both couples.

I was impressed by all actors. Leonor Varela is stunningly beautiful but at the same time a solid actress with perfect timing and a great feeling for subtle comedy. Jeffrey Donovan was very convincing as the young yuppie: self-assured and condescending, protective of his wife and wealth and ruthless when things got out of hand. Waylon Payne was equally convincing as the slightly psychopathic con-man, charming and full of bravado but also dangerously impulsive and rough. About Miranda Bailey much has been said in the comments here, and I can understand the reservations: she is not a beauty and her role is the least sympathetic of all, so as an audience it's almost impossible to relate to her and her motives. But in my opinion she played her character very well: in her "hindsight"-dialogues she's the unappealing, street-wise and cocky white-trash bimbo who doesn't give a damn, yet her self-reflections on the comments of Peter impress as genuinely sincere. And when, at the start of their meeting with the other couple, she tries to win them over with a performance of a sweet mother-to-be, she's equally convincing; and likewise when she later on in the movie is under heavy attack and has to fear for her life, so to me it proves that she's a great actress too.

My only little and rather practical piece of criticism as to the script is: how come that the yuppie-couple didn't have or use a cell-phone?!? They are so well-to-do and modern, that it's totally unbelievable that at least the guy wouldn't have walked around with a cell in his pocket, so that they could have sent for help.

Anyway, this movie gives a very convincing and in many ways disconcerting image of four intelligent people who try to act as if they care for each other, but in the end let themselves only be guided by greed, suspicion and selfishness. And don't bother too much with the moralistic setting, if that's not your cup of thee, just see it as an interesting extra, that at least is equally clever done as the rest of the movie.

I rank it 9 out of 10.

This is very scary

[jacobjohntaylor1 · 8/10 · 2 August 2017]

This is a very scary movie. It has a great story line. It also has great acting. It also has great special effects. 5.1 is a good ratting. But this is such a great film that 5.1 is underrating it. I give this an 8. It is a great movie. It is very scary. It is scarier then The silences of the lambs could ever be. If this does not scary you no movie. This is scarier then A Nightmare on elm street and that is not easy to do. This is scarier then Friday the 13th V a new beginning and that is not easy to do. See this movie. It is very scary. It is one of the best horror movies I have seen.