User reviews

Greetings again from the darkness. Their mother amassed quite the collection of whale-related items from eBay prior to her recent passing. The brother needs the inheritance to continue his self-discovery course, which may or may not answer the question of whether or not he is gay. The estranged sister apparently abandoned her young daughter for fear of being a lousy mother. He admits to being 'lost', and she admits to being 'broken'. Self-loathing is on full display in director Sean McEwen's first feature film.

Tom Felton (Draco from the Harry Potter movies) plays Brandon Walker, and Tammin Sursok ("Pretty Little Liars") plays his older sister Star Walker. They reunite for the reading of mom's will, which includes the outlandish requirement for Brandon and Star to dispose of mom's ashes in the belly of whale in order to receive their inheritance. Needing the money, they hop in mom's old Winnebago for a 48 hour road trip to a public aquarium that houses the closest whale to Iowa.

The emotional impact of a story about a brother and sister finding common ground on a forced road trip boils down to two things: the chemistry between the two actors and the script. Mr. Felton and Ms. Sursok seem to be committed to the cause, and there are a couple of moments that strike the right chord, but overall the script is what prevents us from connecting to either the characters or the story. The attempts to inject humor tend to be in poor taste, while the dramatic elements either repeat themselves or don't work because we simply don't care enough about Brandon or Star.

Having the running gag of Brandon proclaiming "I'm not gay" while Star relentlessly peppers him on the topic comes across as not just dated, but also quite sad - seeing as Brandon is a thirty-something year old man. And worse than that is the stop over at Aunt Jackie's (Wendi McLendon-Covey, BRIDESMAIDS, "The Goldbergs") and Uncle Randal's (David Koechner) house. This sequence of social commentary meant to bash extreme right-wing conservatives is simply embarrassing to watch. I actually felt terrible for the actors in these scenes. Comedy around homosexuality and racism must be handled with grace ... whether it's subtle or cartoonish.

The script was co-written by director Sean McEwen and his leading lady (and real life wife) Tammin Sursok. Respect is due to independent filmmakers who find a way to realize their project, but we do wish more time had been spent on the script. In fact, the whole production felt rushed and unpolished, leaving us with the most dreaded question any movie watcher might ask ... how much longer?

Good chemIstry, but just lack of something else.Beautiful soundtrack, though.

Overacted. Bizarre scenes that last way too long. Terrible dialogue. This is a real swing and a miss.

It had potential to be beautiful. Instead they went for low hanging tug at your heart strings cheese. I wonder how much they paid the 5th grader that wrote it?

I actualy loved this movie. Deserves a higher score on imdb. Very well done for a low budget independent movie. I loved both Tom Felton and Tammin Sursok in this.

I was already a fan of Tom Felton... and I have to say he always gives me different vibes with his characters. I never feel I am watching the same actor play different characters, but an actor embodying and becoming the different characters. It always feels new and different for me.

I also knew Tammin Sursok from "Pretty Little Liars", but I have to say that now I am going to follow her work more closely, since I actualy liked her performance here. She seems to be versatile. And she has a very likable quality about her. Who knew I'd be saying this about the actress that portrayed Jenna? Haha. I really like her acting.

Anyways, the movie is amazingly done. It is not a completely different storyline, but it has an original approach to it. And I never felt myself gettingg bored through the entire movie. It is a wonderful script, well executed, and with well cast parts. Thank you for this project.

I hated this movie so much, I actually turned it off. So I honestly don't know where it ended up but I can guess because it seemed pretty basic.

It was just complete nonsense. None of the dialogue or actions made sense. Losing a parent is hard even if you have a strained relationship with them but these characters didn't act like actually people. They just did "funny" stuff. Nothing seemed to follow on with the characters they created. The brother is a republican yet cares about climate change? I know I'm generalising but most republicans either don't believe it or ignore it. Things like this drove me insane. Then the sister says "let's sleep in the van" while in the van and the brother had to point out "oh well we can't because of all them boxes in the back of the van". Like why!!! She can see the boxes, she has been driving in the van right next to them!!! And why not take them out before you set off!

It drove me insane but Aunt and Uncle Caricature really took the cake for me, that's when I had to tap out.

It's an interesting movie. I loved Tom's acting and also Austin Swift! Wow!!

The trailer seemed alright but the movie was so farfetched and ridiculous. I like Tammin Sursok but in this movie she was extremely annoying. I don't understand the random George W. Bush stuff in the movie. There was so much unnecessary dialogue and scenes that dragged on and on. Finally when there were 25 minutes left, I just started skipping ahead. I don't know how anyone could sit through this or give it more than a 4/10. I feel like the higher ratings are from people who worked on the movie.

Love seeing fun original creative stories like this on screen. Hats off to everyone involved. It's a fun unique story about a family dealing with grief and the growing pains of life that pull people apart and the events that bring them back together.

Although it's certainly not perfect, it's the imperfections that makes it not only such a delight, but also a beacon of hope, at least for me, for the future of filmmaking.

Over the last few decades Hollywood has become incredibly good at making franchise blockbusters, even saving the granddaddy of them all, Star Wars, by takingp, jaw dropping CGI, honoring the source magic as had been applied to the Marvel Universe, Star Trek and Transformers.

Hollywood has also perfected the art of the sequel. If a movie was even a mild success you could expect part 2, 3, 4 and even part 9.

Huge effects and sequels or remakes lather rinse repeat. And don't get me wrong, there's only a couple of these giant franchises I don't enjoy. *cough cough Transformers cough cough* BUT you can only eat from a giant box of bonbons before you need something real, a glass of water or milk, to settle your nausea and bring you back to earth from your sugar high.

So, with all that said, Braking For Whales is that something real to bring you back to earth, back into your body and show you the human experience can be quite a treat as well.

Time was the gigantic thrill ride mega picture was few and far between. Now they're the majority of releases. So, to see this film with nary an explosion, space alien, or superhero get made and made beautifully makes me so excited as well as grateful that there are signs of life coming from the long feared abandoned and forgotten, and arguably what made Hollywood what it is: a good human experience driven story.

Because there are too many chances for spoilers by describing too much of the storyline let me just say Tom Felton, Draco Malfoy of the huge Harry Potter franchise, settles the question if, as an adult, he can act. The answer is yes, yes he can. Quite well as a matter of a fact. He's able to find the humor as well as the struggles of his character as he unflinchingly plays a man running away from, while also searching for, himself.

Tammin Sursok, best known for playing blind girl Jenna Marshal on ABC's Pretty Little Liars (and who said one of my all time favorite lines " I may not be able to see, but I can smell a b***h a mile away.") plays Felton's sister as well as co-wrote the script with husband and the film's director Sean McEwen. Ms. Sursok has proven her comedy chops already with her hilarious internet show "Aussie Girl" (if you haven't seen it, do. You won't be sorry.) but in "Braking" she's able to show us there is a really great dramatic actress in there as well. Before we even know what's troubling Star, the character she plays, Ms. Sursok is already knee deep in fleshing out her character and shows us there's dark shadows that follow the aptly named bright light, party girl Star without saying a word - and brother that ain't easy.

As this is a road movie Felton and Sursok are the only characters that we see through the entire film leaving room however for some great cameos along the way from the likes of the always hilarious Wendy McLendon and David Koechner as their ultra conservative aunt and uncle. Another cameo which may total 10 minutes of the film but is one of the strongest and bravest performances I've seen is a long time is given by Austin Swift who, after this film, will no longer have to have "Taylor Swift's brother" follow his name.

Lastly is the director and co-writer Sean McEwen and probably the biggest reason for the high star rating. As stated earlier this film isn't perfect. For example the editing could be a bit tighter here and there (a dance sequence early in the film could be cut in half) and a little more back story on Felton's character helping viewers understand the source of his issue probably would have helped.

The film often feels like it can't decide if it's a family drama, a screwball comedy or a light road trip indie BUT under the direction of Mr. McEwen all is forgiven, and this is where all the stars come from. In this day and age without doing something like developing entirely new imaging software alá James Cameron for Avatar it's pretty much impossible to bring anything "new" to filmmaking. Sure you can add lens flares everywhere and make the explosions bigger and the stunts more extreme but that's still just adding on to something that already exists.

What McEwen has done is he's created a "look" with this film that hasn't been seen before. Like a vintage old Kodak camera Instagram filter but with richer colors, softer/more diffused lighting and yet a clarity that allows the character's humanity to shine through "Braking For Whales" is one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. It feels like Mr. McEwen is aware of the new, lush beauty he's created and often throughout the film he does us a favor and like an art gallery that has hung art work along the highway we travel with our main characters McEwen stops the forward momentum of the story line and allows us to look at the art along the way. One "art piece" I remember in particular was a shot of the top half of a Ferris wheel with a setting sun, red velvet at the bottom graduating into navy blue velvet at the top is the sky in the background with in the foreground the Ferris wheel's spokey outline rests thick in the sky.

Not only are these "art" moments beautiful but like Sursok being able to show us a terrible hurt lies below her fun exterior without saying a word to tell us that, McEwen creates mood and is able to let the audience know and feel certain things that are hard to put into words. He conjures specific moments from our collective past that I feel has the effect of not only the viewers suspension of disbelief but also has them become personally invested in the film. McEwen pulls those old, creepy in a good way, childhood "feels" out and paints with them leaving theater goers wondering if the film was actually a dream they'd just had.

"Braking for Whales" is a charming, funny, emotional, and heartwarming film with two lesser known actors but who with this film show why that will no longer be the case and although the film has its bumps along the way just the fact Sean McEwen has been able to bring something new to the industry makes me so excited to see as he learns abd grows as a filmmaker what he's going to accomplish and we can all say we saw it here first.

This is a must see! Amazing writing, brilliantly directed and award winning performances. A great escape, will make you laugh and touch your heart.

Cannot tune into the thumbs down reviewers !?

"Braking for Whales" is a wonderfully simple story of a brother & sister rediscovering one another after years of separation due to their willful and mistaken concept of one another. This is a charming independent road film worthy of being watched by all.

Director: Sean McEwen and Writers: Sean McEwen & Tammin Sursok have created a thoughtful and sensitive road story dealing with end of life issues and self discovery emotional conflicts. Actors Tom Felton & Tammin Sursok portray the two main characters perfectly.

The performances by both Tom Felton and Tammin Sursok were so good in this film. Loved watching all of the raw, honest moments between the two of them. Such an unexpected pairing with amazing on screen chemistry!

This is a well written and acted movie. Warm, humorous, uncomfortable and satisfying all describe this trip to enlightenment. Definitely worth the trip and everything you may discover within yourself along the way!

I really love this movie. It is full of heart and humor and great performances. The storyline was beautiful. Certainly recommend.

Whilst I have to admit that this film has pretty bad dialogue at times, I do think that it has portrayed it's aim well. People may think that the scenes are over acted and yes - many of them are, but it is definitely a film that should be given a chance.

The story is amazing. I definitely felt the journey as if I was in the movie.

Was glad to see all the positive comments from user reviews, after seeing it only has a 4.9 rating. This was to me an excellent little picture. I especially liked the acting of the lead sister 'Star'. She couldn't be better named because she is definitely headed in that direction.

Nothing special, just an enjoyable romp down the road of life.

Simple storyline, funny moments, the characters are unique and enjoyable. Really like the relationship between them all. I think it touches on family difficulties but is a very sweet film with some really touching moments.

This movie is truly just gorgeous, with the cinematography and storyline beautifully done. The actors did a wonderful job and this movie has a soul and was really brought to life, unlike some of the recent hollow, bland blockbusters.

I must say though, I think you must have a certain level of depth and emotional intelligence to appreciate this movie. If your'e looking for a shallow movie, It's not this!

I knew even from trailer that this is going to be a good movie despite the rating and i was right. I laughed a lot, i cried a little. Very good acting. Overall I think it's very enjoyable movie, will definitely worth your time!

Amazing movie! 10/10 would recommend, has a good plot and the characters are quite intriguing