Firstly, the dancer is stunning. I wasn't sure if they were using a body double for the dance scenes as no one can be that good looking and that talented - surely? But no, it seems like she acts and she dances. And her acting is OK. She's pretty flat but that's her character, a slightly sulky dance-obsessed teenager.
Also, the little brother is a great actor - he should go far and seems to be overlooked in all the reviews.
As for the movie, there were lots of strands that didn't quite add up, many of which have been called out by other reviews. Why was the mum so convinced that her daughter would never make the grade to go pro? We needed to see how her own dreams had been crushed as a kid to make her so brutally realistic. And why would the mum agree to go to a sleazy pick-up joint after work with her colleagues? If this is where they always go wouldn't they have warned her? And what is with the two dancers who look at each other all the time? And why doesn't the math tutor make a move? A kiss followed by him leaving HER to follow HIS dream would have been more surprising rather than 'hey, good for you, I'm off too'.
As for everything else, I get that dad has left, mum has never had to work, dad bought the daughter's car and paid for the upmarket lifestyle and that his departure has left mum in pieces. And I get that two Bs is not the end of the world but it's realistic - not everything has to be a drama.The anorexia thing is possibly realistic too - films don't have a responsibility to show the world as it should be, this one shows it perhaps more as it is.
The director obviously coerced a mate to provide songs for the entire soundtrack - no doubt for budgetary reasons but a bit more variety / subtlety might have worked.
Throughout, I couldn't help thinking that, if this film had been made in France in the late eighties /early nineties and had starred Emmanuelle Béart, it would have been considered art house and would have been much better received. The pace and minimal plot felt very French.
Still, the director not only got this made, she got Netflix to buy it. Kudos!
Also, the little brother is a great actor - he should go far and seems to be overlooked in all the reviews.
As for the movie, there were lots of strands that didn't quite add up, many of which have been called out by other reviews. Why was the mum so convinced that her daughter would never make the grade to go pro? We needed to see how her own dreams had been crushed as a kid to make her so brutally realistic. And why would the mum agree to go to a sleazy pick-up joint after work with her colleagues? If this is where they always go wouldn't they have warned her? And what is with the two dancers who look at each other all the time? And why doesn't the math tutor make a move? A kiss followed by him leaving HER to follow HIS dream would have been more surprising rather than 'hey, good for you, I'm off too'.
As for everything else, I get that dad has left, mum has never had to work, dad bought the daughter's car and paid for the upmarket lifestyle and that his departure has left mum in pieces. And I get that two Bs is not the end of the world but it's realistic - not everything has to be a drama.The anorexia thing is possibly realistic too - films don't have a responsibility to show the world as it should be, this one shows it perhaps more as it is.
The director obviously coerced a mate to provide songs for the entire soundtrack - no doubt for budgetary reasons but a bit more variety / subtlety might have worked.
Throughout, I couldn't help thinking that, if this film had been made in France in the late eighties /early nineties and had starred Emmanuelle Béart, it would have been considered art house and would have been much better received. The pace and minimal plot felt very French.
Still, the director not only got this made, she got Netflix to buy it. Kudos!