Palm Trees and Power Lines (2022) User Reviews

In the Palm of his Hand...

[Xstal · 7/10 · 16 January 2024]

At seventeen you have a mother who's distracted, a boyfriend to whom you're clearly not attracted, it's the summer time is free, and so it's with some joy and glee, that you let an older man, have you extracted; as he takes you out and you start to get close, he treats you well, and doesn't hide in the shadows, although alarm bells should be ringing, a waitress knows what he is bringing, there's lots of cons and only one important pros; but you let him take advantage and engage, you're streetwise, have a quite mature gauge (or so you believe), he wants to introduce a friend, has something you can help distend, you could profit, and make him a living wage.

Great performance from Lily McInerny.

Don't listen to anyone who says this film misses the mark

[Boristhemoggy · 7/10 · 13 April 2023]

This film is extremely well done and should be required watching for all teens.

It follows Lea who is groomed by the much older Tom who not only wants her as his love, but for other sinister reasons too.

The pace is slow, but that's exactly how grooming can work. The content during the pacing is formidable as it graphically shows how way it is for an older man to seduce a young girl who does not know the way of the world and has a mother who cares less than she should.

Tom is played fabulously by Jonathan Tucker. He totally nails the role of seducer and abuser and you can tell from the start that he is very practiced in this.

Lea is played brilliantly by the unknown to me Lily McInerny and she gives an excellent performance as the jaded yet innocent Lea. She perfectly captures the nuances of emotions as she goes through this journey of what she believes to be love, realises is abuse, and then settles for acceptance.

It's an important film for us all to be mindful of this kind of behaviour.

If only the waitress has phoned the police, if only the woman at the motel had said no, if only Lea's friends had been nicer, if only her mother was more caring... This film is all about If Only's.

Good tension, difficult to watch at some parts

[zack_gideon · 6/10 · 7 March 2023]

This movie is hard to watch (no spoilers but there are some very uncomfortable scenes that might trigger some folks so be warned). It's a good tension driven plot but ultimately fails to move forward and ends up being not quite as impactful as it could have been.

Many of the scenes in this film are "fly on the wall" shots with no camera movement and it's like you're in the room. I applaud the director for that, it's a great way to convey tension and force the viewer to "be there". Scenes with the mom and boyfriend both do this. This technique also drives this placid kind of ethereal feel throughout.

Overall I liked this film, it just fails in the plot development part especially the last bits. It will annoy a lot of viewers and it did annoy me, but it's still worth a watch. The acting is pretty good for an indie too.

Difficult to watch

[desimonici-898-584421 · 14 November 2023]

Yes difficult to watch but very convincing. My daughter who is a psychologist works for a charity that counsel teenage Mothers and I know from talking to her how difficult and sometimes impossible it is to make these people see that the relationship they are in is really toxic. It doesn't always come from a particular type of girl some have a reasonable back story in as much as it isn't full of trauma and neglect but still they are attracted to a wrong'un and they won't be talked out of it. I don't know if some were not happy with an unsatisfying ending but that's how it goes in real life, people don't just suddenly wake up and see the mistake they made. Abusers are not always pimptastic and obviously abusive, some are very practiced and subtle and sadly that keeps their victim where they want them.

Grim viewing but handled quite well.

[Kipper-4 · 7/10 · 15 November 2023]

Watched this film totally without any idea what it was about other than the brief pre-amble and was rewarded with quite a thought-provoking movie. Not a lot happens in truth but the acting was very realistic so it worked for me. As others have mentioned, it was an uncomfortable watch at times and I can fully understand that what happened in the film sadly happens in the real world.

Although not a 'happy' ending it WAS an ending of sorts and probably a very plausible one at that. It seemed to me that a confused and essentially neglected seventeen year-old girl made a decision between two pretty grim pathways (as she saw it) and chose the one most of us hoped she wouldn't. I was disappointed in her decision making but equally could understand her logic as to why she made them.

Important Message, Unsatisfying Delivery

[brentsbulletinboard · 6/10 · 15 March 2023]

In telling a cautionary tale, a film must be on point if its message is to be effectively conveyed. Regrettably, such is not the case in this story of a silver-tongued, 34-year-old sexual predator (Jonathan Tucker) in his efforts to win the affections of a disconnected adolescent from a fragmented household (Lily McInerny) and manipulate her into a life of degrading, subservient behavior. It's a troubling tale, to be sure, one that has an important point to make. However, the execution leaves much to be desired. The film's glacial pacing (especially in the first half) becomes tedious quickly, particularly with the inclusion of considerable needless incidental footage depicting mundane everyday activities, events that are undoubtedly intended to reflect the teen's monotonous worldview but that grow eminently tiresome in short order. This is compounded by uneven character development, most notably that of the vulnerable protagonist, whose persona wavers wildly from incisively streetwise to exceedingly naïve and plainly outspoken to severely inhibited, undermining the believability of who she's really supposed to be and her reactions to the circumstances she faces. That's perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the conclusion, which, in my view, also stretches credibility somewhat (though I know there are those who would definitely beg to differ with me on that point). To its credit, the performances are all quite good, having earned two of the picture's four Independent Spirit Award nominations for the portrayals turned in by Tucker and McInerny. Still, this overlong offering suffers from both the aforementioned issues, as well as some questionable camera work and a need for tighter editing. Writer-director Jamie Dack's debut feature may have its origins in good intentions, but its followthrough frequently - and often widely - misses the mark.

so many red flags

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 7 November 2023]

Lea (Lily McInerny) is a teenager disconnected from her single mom Sandra (Gretchen Mol). She hangs out with her friend Amber and the boys. One night, the group dines and dashes. Tom (Jonathan Tucker) rescues her from the angry cook. She takes a ride from the stranger and it leads to a romance with the older man.

There are so many red flags being raised in this movie. It helps that Lily McInerny is so good at playing young. I almost believed that she's a teen during the first act. I hoped that he's only married, but the story becomes obvious soon enough. The last act is fittingly uncomfortable. It is a tough watch and goes on forever. It needs to be cut down if nothing else for my sanity. Lea is going to kill me with her choices.

Wow!

[Jblum5 · 9/10 · 31 January 2022]

Palm trees and Power Lines is the story of a bored girl who is emerging on adolescence. She meets a much older man who seems to understand her like she wishes others did.

So per my IMDb page I have seen 439 horror movies in my life... plus obviously many others. This film is without a doubt one of the most cringy and disturbing I have ever seen. This is not for the feint of heart. It also may not go in the direction you immediately assume.

The screen play is spot on , crafting a realistic story and character motivations. The acting and casting here is also very strong with Lily McInerny playing a girl 5 years younger than she is in real life to protection. You feel her frustrations with her circumstances and lack of belonging. Johnathon Tucker also plays his character very well in a role that demands a certain level of performance.

The only negatives I can even conjure up here is the entire film is shot on hand help and sometimes it becomes jarring to watch. Mundane conversations can be unappealing to look at and it isn't shot the best.

This movie absolutely nails what it was going for and should be seen by the right group of people but it isn't for everyone just the same. If you can take being shocked, offended and challenged by a take on a coming of age story - this is a great film.

Caught In The Spider's Web.

[Mr_Sophistication_Uk · 7/10 · 12 April 2024]

Teenager Lia has a mother who doesn't pay any attention to her, a dad who abandoned her long ago, a bestie who she doesn't seem to get on with that well and a larger group of 'friends' that only seem to want to bone her. No wonder she falls for the charms of a much older man called Tom, when he listens to her for hours and compliments her endlessly. As you've probably guessed by now though, things aren't always as they appear...

Both a cautionary tale and a sad indictment of today's youth culture, the rather oddly titled Palm Tree And Power Lines is a depressing but ultimately absorbing view of a young girl's attempt to find some level of meaning and value in her existence, even if it may harm her in the long run.

The acting is universally excellent, with Tom every inch the deceptive creep you inititally think he is and Lia a quiet and vulnerable girl who makes plenty of bad choices along the way, but considering her dead-end life, you can understand EXACTLY why she does what she did.

Especially during the ending, which others may rage at but neatly ties into everything we've seen so far of the characters. All I can say is, she should've listened to the waitress... 7/10.

Boring, Dry, although realistic

[katielzielke · 4/10 · 5 March 2023]

Both characters lack depth. The story lacks depth. It's almost two dimensional. The female lead has zero personality.... The movie doesn't make you care about the characters. It doesn't evoke emotion. I get what the director was trying to get at. 'This can happen to anyone, and it can be covert, and feelings of love can be involved.' But at the end of the day the story is so blah that it doesn't even feel like a cautionary tale. The movie leaves you with nothing.

If you want to understand the gut wrenching reality of sexual coercion, sex slavery, systematic rape etc. Then watch Human Trafficking - a movie made before it's time. And never got enough credit for its gut wrenching brilliant, accurate portrayal of what had already become a little known pandemic at the time the movie was made, in the early 2000s.

A Spotlight on Evil and (Modern Day) Innocence

[alfredo-lorente-691-782882 · 8/10 · 10 February 2023]

Palm Trees and Power Lines is a slow descent into hell.

Good art is all about making people feel something. The emotions this film brings up are visceral. Evil is often a straw man set up by people with a philosophy to push, but "often" isn't the same as "always" and this film is a case in point if when there is no possible way to justify someone's behavior.

The film highlights how loneliness, social isolation, and the demands of modern life can cause havoc in young people's lives. This is a work of fiction that could have been inspired by a news story in any city or town in the U. S. It is a modern story in the classic Brothers Grimm style, without being sanitized by Disney animators. With standout acting and photography that is both beautiful and shows the banality of modern living, it is a cautionary tale that hits hard and makes you want to scream.

Doesn't Really Go Anywhere by the End of the Day

[chenp-54708 · 4/10 · 20 April 2022]

Saw this back at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival

Palm Trees and Power Lines is directed by Jamie Dack and it's a story about a disconnected teenage girl enters a relationship with a man twice her age. She sees him as the solution to all her problems, but his intentions are not what they seem. Starring actors Lily McInerny and Jonathan Tucker. Based on the short film also with the same name and by Dack, it felt really more of a longer filler version of the short film. Dack is trying her best to capture a disturbing realistic portrayal about a relationship between a young girl and an older man that becomes much more then we thought about. But due to a storyline that feels repetitive and lazy, it didn't take the serious subject matter to it's advantage and become a snooze fest.

Mclnerny and Tucker both give good performances and there are some good camerawork displayed. I do appreciate Dack choosing actors who fit the characters role properly. But the story needs work. The characters are lazy and unbearable at times. Some of the dialogue feels really fake and forced. As if an adult doesn't really understand how young people talk in this modern day of age. Certain choices from the characters was really idiotic and annoying which made me lose my interesting and focus on the character. The lightening at certain moments were really too dark to see what is happening because of budget issues which I can forgive for those reasons. But there is a lot of potential that is missed and I really do feel like this movie would have been an disturbing hidden gem just like "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" which this movie reminded me of that hidden gem. But it didn't work as well.

Dack is good for what is trying to do but I honestly was disappointed.

Rating: C-

This movie takes a huge RISK

[sharzina · 10/10 · 7 March 2023]

I did not know this movie would be this powerful. The writing was incredibly insightful because it framed the story and painted the emotions into every scene especially the ones between Tom and Leah.

I remember being a young girl and how the innocence of being such a young girl, it is so easy to be in that vulnerable place...so close to having your life changed forever if you make the wrong move and trust the wrong person.

The character Tom had a trusting charisma. The way he moved her around and physically placed her on a pedestal like when he would crouch down on the floor so he could look up at her as if she had all the power, but it was him who had all the power. After all he picked her, then lured her, then groomed her. An older woman would have argued, told Tom he was insane, but she went along with it.

I will never ever for as long as I live know how a man can use a young woman when he knows he is taking advantage of her. Never. (Referring to her first guy in the hotel room.)

This was a risky film by the content. We don't always depict true life in it's ugly form unless it's a documentary.

This movie was hella mesmerizing. The actors and writing brilliant.

Hard content to watch...

It doesn't make you care.

[HypnoticPoison7 · 4/10 · 28 January 2022]

Saw this for the Sundance festival, and it was a huge disappointment coming from the short film version of the same name. While the short film had the better main actress (she seemed more innocent, more believable, had a better singing voice, a more pleasant appearance, etc.,), this full length version had Jonathan Tucker. Having been a fan of his films since he started as a child actor, I knew he would be impressive as the role of the 'creepy dude' in this...and he was. Yet the slow pacing of the film and the drawn out unnecessary scenes centered around the lazy girl with equally lazy friends managed to swallow Tucker up completely. It felt like a waste of talent. I didn't think the director would take this version the direction that she did considering how the short film ended, and that was another disappointment. It was quite unrealistic and too grotesque to take seriously. As a woman it is becoming increasingly hard to watch movies made by women if this is the result. I've seen so many lately with the same qualities...slow pace, unrealistic drama, boring typical dialogue and almost all character development is non existent. They don't know how to make you care. This movie is another great example of that.

Stunning debut film

[davexist · 8/10 · 6 March 2023]

This is a very stunning debut film. The authenticity - the atmosphere, the acting - is stellar. The small-town teenage malaise is palpable. Lily McInerny is amazing, her portrayal of a doe-eyed adolescent longing for love but completely naive to life is excellent. Jonathan Tucker is completely believable as a charismatic "bad boy with heart."

My only gripe is that the story turns a bit fast and kind of strains credulity. Grooming takes time. And the situation would've been much more believable with drugs, which so often help people dissociate and bury trauma. But overall, an excellent take on a tough story.

Watchable, but accomplishes little in the end.

[bombersflyup · 5/10 · 7 March 2023]

Palm Trees and Power Lines holds the attention, though not without its emptiness.

By some of the glowing reviews and their experience of the film, I assume they didn't foresee that Tom wanted to be her pimp early on, like I did. At no point did Tom not appear fake to me and Lea's actions aren't sound. She leaves the restaurant, like he wouldn't suspect such a thing and then she walks... Yes walks and sits down... After time has passed she calls her friend to pick her up, the same one she previously insulted, no not her mother, because things are more important than safety here apparently... They then sit there for some time, meanwhile I'm assuming this guy's going to show up any second, but no back to normality, like he doesn't know where she lives. She then leeches onto her mother and friends, like they could protect her if he showed up, instead of notifying the police and then what is this ending...

The strongest moment is Lea recognizing Tom's tonal shift and for the first time she out of character doesn't fight it. However confusingly she doesn't act on it later like it never happened and is surprised when he pimps her. In the endeavour to find realism, every character including the protagonist is messed up. Therefore it's difficult to connect and fails to really evoke.

Beautifuly made film with deep rooted dark undertones.

[MK_Ultra_ · 8/10 · 23 March 2023]

First heard of this film while watching the Film Independent awards. This certainly isn't an uplifting film, but I did go in blind, only knowing the small bit on the IFC awards show for "breakthrough actor" nomination.

Going in blind it first appears to be a coming of age film that takes a bit of a sideways step, as an older (mid to late 30's) guy enters the life of a disconnected young girl, and seems a bit off but he charms his way into her life, while her home life is almost non-existent due to a single mother upbringing and her own mother's penchant for making life mistakes, and in this case repeating them. Tjese mistakes cause more distance between her and the daughter's dynamic. It also sent her firstly into hanging with friends til all hours, and ultimately charmed into what seems like an unhealthy, compulsive relationship with this new, older man.

Again, the narrative seems to take it further down the rabbit hole with the feel of a road movie starting to enter the overall feel of the storyarc---like a "forbidden relationship" that may take them on a journey. Until it doesn't.

It takes the turn that structured families fear may happen, and unstructured---feels almost inevitable.

Lily McInerney as Lea captures pure unadulterated innocence and vulnerability that this new "man" takes advantage of. Her damaged upbringing becomes her downfall, but instead of drugs and homelessness---we get something a bit more harrowing when you couple Lea's vulnerable state with her naivity.

Script is lean and mean, score is perfect in the right spots, adding tension when there is, and Gretchen Mol's role as the detached mother takes a back seat to quite a riveting performance by McInerney who is not only convincingly smart and real, it should also hit home to any parent that has a young daughter and the trepidation that some parents may feel when their daughter leaves the house making the same poor decisions that the mother has instilled. It's a dangerous cycle and the outcome of the final act shows just that. A pure gutpunch.

Pure and real independent film making at it finest.

8.5/10.

Not as great as it likes to think it is

[stevelivesey-37183 · 5/10 · 18 December 2023]

I can't quite put my finger on the reason why this film left me so cold.

It wasn't the acting, that was very good from the whole cast especially the central character.

The script meandered a little. The cinematography was pretty good, so it must have been the detached, long takes and lack of snappy editing that did it.

Some pretty awful things happen in the movie and the camera just focuses on the protagonist in a long unbroken shot. The aftermath for both scenes is notably played down. It is left for the audience to react.

The ending is also unsatisfactory. In the end we just want to slap the main character.

Really powerful

[catalinapopa-68825 · 10/10 · 1 May 2023]

The movie made me feel really uncomfortable and I know that was one of the movie's purposes. The theme can make people angry. It's about a teenager that falls in love with the wrong man. She feels like everyone disappointed her and he, the man who is 35 years old, is the only one who can make her happy. That man can do any damage and she will still he there for him because he knows and knew what to say In the right moment.

This move is not inspired from a real story, but it feels like that because real life is like that sometimes.

Tom is a loverboy and Lea is a beautiful and still learning about life teenager.

The end is heartbreaking. All I could hear in my head was: "call the police", "tell your mom or your friend" and this never happened. I think a lot of people were disappointed with the end because we like happy endings and this is an open one who gives us a clue about what's gonna happen. And that clue is... so unwanted.

If I could rate it a zero I would ...

[raenelrae · 1/10 · 26 April 2023]

This was THE most boring movie. I do not understand how it has such high reviews. The girl has ZERO personality. The story is slow and somehow makes what should be eventful NOT eventful. Let me save you the misery and sum it up for you. Girl is pissed at the world and lonely. Meets older man who seems to really care about her. He wants to take her away for a few days. He pimps her out ... she runs away from him. He never looks for her. Little while later she tries calling his phone is disconnected. She tracks him down and asks why he never looked for her and tells him she misses him too. It ends. Sounds like it should be really good right? Trust me it's not.

Sundance 2022

[suuronenmiro · 8/10 · 24 January 2022]

Very solid first feature film from director Jamie Dack.

Really nice little indie coming of age film.

Peaceful and realistic slice of life kinda story.

I really liked it.

It was really nicely crafted.

I could understand motivations of every character.

There were some really nice family and frienship drama that i did relate in some levels.

But i can also see that this film will be very divisive.

There has been lot of conversations about age gap relationships in films lately.

But in this film that relationship is clearly supposed to be super uncomfortable and inappropriate.

And i mean super uncomfortable at so many momens.

Red flags were seen everywhere.

But i can really see that these kinda relationships are happening in real life.

Really well made film.

Nice looking.

Really naturalistic.

Mostly no soundtrack at all.

Nice performances.

I can see that Lily McInerney has bright future ahead.

She was really good in this.

Nice supporting performances too.

If this gets some really good studio to distribute it, i can really see it finding own audience.

I really hope so.

Or then it wil remain as little Sundance hidden gem.

I enjoyed my time watching this.

Boring and unaccomplished

[guido-fuortes · 3/10 · 20 May 2023]

How sad (and boring) must be the life of a teenager to get involved in a sick relationship with an older man? Moreover, it is not easy to understand why she is attracted by someone who does not show special qualities. Worse of all, at the end she's capable of missing him... The binary choice (either boredom or abuse) is too simplistic. One must hope that there are multiple paths to reach happiness or, at least, serenity.

Acting is regular (not too difficult either), casting is not ideal, cinematography is flat, script is not brilliant, dialogues are void. However, I was not surprised to know the success it had in Sundance, it has many ingredients for that.

Talk to your kids. That's the point of the film.

[balthesaur · 8/10 · 2 May 2023]

'Palm Trees and Power Lines' is about Lea (Lily McInerny) and her best friend Amber (Quinn Frankel) enjoying the summer as teenagers. After a random encounter, Lea meets Tom (Johnathan Tucker), a man twice her age, who offers to drive her home. Through a series of chance meetings, Lea develops feelings for Tom and they end up in a relationship, but she realizes too late that Tom's ulterior motives are underhanded and exploitive.

Acting and script are decent, characters are believeable, and the flow is solid. The main takeaway from this film is that Lea's mother, Sandra (Gretchen Mol) has her own busy interpersonal life and foesn't appear to take a serious interest in Lea. Her friends aren't mature enough for her, her boyfriend is a jerk, and Tom seems to be the answer to it all. The way the film presents the two of them feels organic and realistic.

Worth a watch!

njaanooo...

[ops-52535 · 5/10 · 13 March 2023]

Rough subjects, and sore super actual realism it has, the theme of human trafficking and/or grooming, that happens every day all over the world.

There are really no surprising moments in this flick about a lonely girl brought up in a single parent home, with a mum that is wingeling in and out of partnerships herself, not the ideal idol for a ''notknowhow'' 17 year old girl that doesnt feel love anywhere, even not from her closests friends...

this is a film that may disturb the metoo squad, and it is so too, but ive seen worse in really decent movies on the silverscreen in the past, that sets the path even tougher and more gross and swift than between the'' palm trees and powerlines'' of southern california...

what draws this film down is the extremely slow plotspeed, an unbearable long playtime and a weak caracter build up in general of the people that surrounds the main caracter. Allthough the acts of the two mains heaves this silverscreen moment above the water surface so that you maybe able to breath.

But a wow it is not and a meehh it aint either, so the grumpy old man calls out a 5 stars outta 10 for its socialrealistic value, and should and could be recommended as part of a curricullum for some young members and ditto parents of todays society as a reminder that dull and slow maybe a safe factor when screaming out for love for the first time...

This happens all the time but we never want to look at it

[lauralmacleod · 8/10 · 6 July 2023]

We know that sexual grooming of children and teenagers is extremely prevalent all over the world and this film really slaps you in the face with how this can happen and the lethal combination of seriously bad parenting, vulnerable innocents and predators. The film begins with a typical teenage scenario of out of control teenagers and no parental guidance. Leah, the main protagonist is a pretty girl emotionally vulnerable and drifting. Her mother is unable to provide her with what she needs at a difficult time of growing up. Predators are all over mainstream society looking for their moment to seize and take advantage of innocence. Unfortunately Lea is intoxicated by the attentions of a good looking man double her age if not more and falls in to his attention trap. After all, she has no father figure and craves recognition and love. In a short time, the predator has hooked her in and what is particularly amazing about this film is that the portrayal of the grooming seems as natural and easy as could be. That is what is so horrifying . The process of grooming is making the victim become dependant on the predator for everything that is missing. The predator is actually a heartless stone cold evil manipulator . The most disturbing aspect of the film is that we are left with a reality at the end that leads us to believe that Leah will go back to him and be eternally damaged . This could be seen several ways ; an unfinished ending which is not satisfying, a bleak reality that gives no hope or that Leah will eventually pull herself out. We will never know, As we never know truly about the millions of victims around the world that go unnoticed. What happens to them?