Very much style over substance here, could not find myself to care about the plot

Very much style over substance here, could not find myself to care about the plot

this film wants to be directed by josh safdie so bad.

this film wants to be directed by josh safdie so bad.

First and most important note, it was a huge mistake to not have subtitles for the ASL.

This had a lot of potential, there's some really cool filmmaking choices in here. I loved the lighting, specifically while Maika Monroe was driving, I loved the thermal camera sequence, I loved the porch light scene.

However, the script could use some work. It's more than a little dry and uninteresting at places, and some of the narrative choices don't make sense at all. That entire sequence with the red headed lady and the field and the horses made no sense to me, I was unsure if it was meant to be a flashback or a vision, I have no clue. I also have an issue with the fact that this is described as her having to "flee into a nightmarish underworld". Where was the nightmarish underworld??? I thought we were going to get some world-building, delving into the criminal operation that her and her brother were part of, just any amount of context for what was happening. But there was none of that.

And yeah, some of the narrative and script issues might be solved if I could understand what the characters were actually saying. The porch light scene looked to be absolutely vital to the story and the dynamic between Monroe and Kotsur is very moving but I could barely make out even parts of what was trying to be said. I would 1000% rewatch this film if I was able to get subtitles just to understand the script nuances that I was personally unable to grasp.

Overall, I think this movie and this story had the potential to be very good. With a tighter script and some subtitles, I could even appreciate a longer version of this. The acting was great, the visuals were great, but I found myself struggling to be invested in the story.

First and most important note, it was a huge mistake to not have subtitles for the ASL.

This had a lot of potential, there's some really cool filmmaking choices in here. I loved the lighting, specifically while Maika Monroe was driving, I loved the thermal camera sequence, I loved the porch light scene.

However, the script could use some work. It's more than a little dry and uninteresting at places, and some of the narrative choices don't make sense at all. That entire sequence with the red headed lady and the field and the horses made no sense to me, I was unsure if it was meant to be a flashback or a vision, I have no clue. I also have an issue with the fact that this is described as her having to "flee into a nightmarish underworld". Where was the nightmarish underworld??? I thought we were going to get some world-building, delving into the criminal operation that her and her brother were part of, just any amount of context for what was happening. But there was none of that.

And yeah, some of the narrative and script issues might be solved if I could understand what the characters were actually saying. The porch light scene looked to be absolutely vital to the story and the dynamic between Monroe and Kotsur is very moving but I could barely make out even parts of what was trying to be said. I would 1000% rewatch this film if I was able to get subtitles just to understand the script nuances that I was personally unable to grasp.

Overall, I think this movie and this story had the potential to be very good. With a tighter script and some subtitles, I could even appreciate a longer version of this. The acting was great, the visuals were great, but I found myself struggling to be invested in the story.