An adaptation of Tawni O'Dell's 2004 novel of the same title, she also being a writer for the film. Not to be confused with the 1981 film with the same title, starring Sally Field and Tommy Lee. Directed by Alex Pettyfer, who also played the main character: 18y.o. Harley Altmyer: oldest child and now guardian for his 3 sisters, after his father was murdered and his mother imprisoned for this murder. His 3 sisters are: 16-17y.o. Amber, 12y.o. Misty, and 6y.o. Jody. The story takes place somewhere in the boonies of western PA............. The film has its problems. For one thing, it takes too long to get going. Most of the interesting revelations and happenings occur in the second half, so that some viewers give up during the first half. But, perhaps, this is unavoidable. Alex is too old(28) for a believable 18y.o., and Nicola Peltz is too old(23) for a believable 16-17y.o.. Harley is clearly too disturbed to be acting as the head of a family. He is profoundly depressed throughout most of the film, apparently with a guilty conscience, as he mainly looks down or deviantly when speaking, and often speaks too quietly or poorly to be understood. He spends a good portion of the film whimpering, often while talking. The conversation, especially by Harley and neighbor Callie(Jennifer Mercer) is frequently unintelligible to me, which makes it difficult to figure out what is going on. ................. I will now give my interpretation of what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present. If you want to see the film, I advise you to skip this part until after you have seen the film, to avoid spoiling the uncertainty............. In the beginning, everyone agrees that the mother shot the father dead, presumably because of physical or sexual abuse of at least some of the children. However, eventually, Harley acquires reason to suspect that Misty actually pulled the trigger. Harley goes to the prison and discusses the murder with his mother. Initially, she denies that Misty was the assassin. But eventually, she blurts out that Misty was trying to kill her, but her husband got in the way at the wrong moment. I'm not convinced whether this is true. Later, when Misty and Harley are alone, Misty blurts out that maybe Harley should have done it, instead, after Harley queries that she killed dad, didn't she.? Misty is implying that their father was abusing both her and Harley. However, she states that the father was not hitting Amber. This contradicts what Harley tells his psychiatrist: that when they were younger, Amber often came into his room at night and got in bed with him, as comfort and protection against abuse from the father. Sometimes, she would fondle his privates. In the present, after Amber returned from a short stay living with her boyfriend, Dylan, when Harley awoke, he found her laying naked beside him. He jumped up in a fit of hysteria and ran into the next room. Amber yelled "I love you". Apparently, Amber had returned from Dylan's because he had hit her, as evidenced by a somewhat bruised eye. Although she often had arguments with Harley, she said she left for Dylan's because Harley was "discusting". I suspect this is a reference to Harley's affair with the married neighbor Callie, rather than any unseen romantic overtures to herself. I don't know how Amber learned of this affair. Callie was a beautiful slim blond in her 30s. Thus, it is no wonder that Harley fell in love with her, and she proved vulnerable. Perhaps she felt neglected by her husband, who never seemed to be around day or night, and perhaps she had a motherly sensual attraction to the lonely Harley. But, one time when Harley showed up in his truck, Callie became hysterical. The gist of what she said was that she was afraid her husband would eventually find out and divorce her. Thus, she wanted to end the affair. Harley blurted out "But, I love you". She left. .............But, later, there is a pivotal strange turn around, I don't understand. Apparently, Harley had arranged to meet Callie in an abandoned shack near the railroad(why there?). But, when Harley got there at the appointed time, he found her dead, of a gunshot wound. We see Amber not far away, with Harley's rifle, sobbing, and blurting out "I didn't know what else to do". Presumably, she was insanely jealous of Callie. I don't understand how Amber could have learned of the meeting place and time?? Nonetheless, Harley went to the police station and confessed to the crime. The police chief asked why he did it. Haley said because Callie refused to divorce her husband and marry him. Not entirely logical, but the chief accepted it..............Harley's traumatized psychiatrist visited him in jail. Crying, she said that she didn't believe he was a killer, that he must be trying to protect the real killer. But, he refused to alter his story, saying that he deserved to be in jail. Perhaps he rationalized his deception in that he was ultimately responsible for the tradjedy by starting the affair and insisting on continuing it after Callie said she wanted it ended.......... In closing, I will say that I found Hala Finley, in playing Jody, cute and interesting.
Review of Back Roads
Back Roads
(2018)
A very twisted tale of child abuse, illicit passions, murders, and martyrdoms
7 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers