With the exception of the last few minutes, this film is a never-ending pantheon of bad stuff happening to this poor girl and her slightly physically deformed mother. At first I thought it one going to be one of those 'quirky' flicks about a pair of oddballs triumphing against the odds, but it definitely isn't that.
The acting is pretty stellar across the board, from our much put-upon protagonists to the slight stereotypical roles of the school bullies who give the girl a hard time and the snooty women in town who refuse to accept her mum. At times, it can seem slightly cartoonish in the over-the-top appalling way both are treated... surely not everyone where they live can be this bad, even if they do act and look a bit different from the norm.
It might've helped the script to have a few more sympathetic characters to root for... and no, I'm not talking about the 'nice' friend who's family adopt the girl at the end after a 'shock' suicide. Just because she didn't take part in a lot of the physical and mental abuse, it doesn't mean this 'friend' is much better than the main pair who picked on the girl. Bystander syndrome, anyone?
Anyway, for what it is, the movie is well worth watching for the great performances and unpredictable plot alone, but in terms of realism and depth it does lag a bit in both departments. Recommended, but with minor reservations. 6/10
The acting is pretty stellar across the board, from our much put-upon protagonists to the slight stereotypical roles of the school bullies who give the girl a hard time and the snooty women in town who refuse to accept her mum. At times, it can seem slightly cartoonish in the over-the-top appalling way both are treated... surely not everyone where they live can be this bad, even if they do act and look a bit different from the norm.
It might've helped the script to have a few more sympathetic characters to root for... and no, I'm not talking about the 'nice' friend who's family adopt the girl at the end after a 'shock' suicide. Just because she didn't take part in a lot of the physical and mental abuse, it doesn't mean this 'friend' is much better than the main pair who picked on the girl. Bystander syndrome, anyone?
Anyway, for what it is, the movie is well worth watching for the great performances and unpredictable plot alone, but in terms of realism and depth it does lag a bit in both departments. Recommended, but with minor reservations. 6/10