Elsewhere (2009) User Reviews

For a few thousand $$$, they could have bought a decent script.

[innocuous · 4/10 · 11 June 2009]

It seems like I spend half my time watching poorly-produced and horribly-acted movies with good stories and ideas, and the other half watching well-produced movies with zero imagination and stock story lines. "Elsewhere" falls into the latter category. The actresses (and actors) are cute and do a decent job. (Keep your eye on the "weird' girl.) The production values are quite good, with interesting, but not impressive, cinematography. The whole movie is definitely not low-budget in appearance or finish.

But the story and script are just awful...retreads of thrillers done hundreds of times before. Trust me, you'll pick out the bad guy within the first few minutes of the movie. No hints are required. There is very little tension in the movie, except for the few action sequences. Contrary to what you might expect from the tag lines, there isn't any "string" of mysterious disappearances. One girl disappears and, five years later, so does another one. The cell phone texting angle has been done many times before and much better, so no tension there. The typical (and stereotyped) red herrings abound.

Finally, towards the end of the movie, you get a scene which ought to be subtitled "Scriptwriters Got Tired Here" or "Director Couldn't Figure Out How to Film This the Right Way." Two teens try to sneak up on a farmhouse where a (potential) bad guy is sleeping by creeping through a cornfield. Since they want to be stealthy, they (of course) bring along fluorescent tube lanterns. No, nobody would notice THOSE being carried through a completely dark cornfield at night, would they? And who would ever notice the bright light coming form the completely unlit barn when the kids finally get there? Unfortunately, this is typical of the writing in this film.

Well-made, but still pretty worthless and unexciting.

It's not Anna Kendrick's fault

[MBunge · 5/10 · 8 February 2011]

Elsewhere is a middling little concoction that's one or two ingredients away from being really good. It's like a Nancy Drew Mystery without a mystery but with a serial killer. Writer/director Nathan Hope came up with a lot of nice ancillary pieces and then assembled them around an empty core. The result is a promising beginning, an anticipatory middle and a disappointing ending.

Jillian and Sarah (Tania Raymonde and Anna Kendrick) are teenaged best friends. Jillian is a rocker chick whose edginess hides a desperate desire to get far away from a life she hates. Sarah is a good girl and that's pretty much it. The character has the disposition of a coat rack and while Anna Kendrick makes a very cute coat rack, Sarah being such a non-entity becomes the biggest problem in the entire movie.

After a stretch of time where Jillian and Sarah lounge around doing terribly typical teenage stuff, Jillian disappears. Sarah investigates and with no help from her absentee mother, she turns to computer geek Jasper (Chuck Carter) for assistance. The only clue is a video sent from Jillian's cell phone that shows the inside of a school bus and then Jillian screams.

Sarah eventually discovers that Jillian is only one of several missing girls, but who is responsible? Is it Officer Berg (Jeff Daniel Phillips), the creepy local cop? Billy (Paul Wesley), the high school dickhead? Is it the unstable Patty (Shannon Holt), mother of a girl who vanished 5 years ago? Well, there's honestly not much of a puzzle to figure out here. There really is no series of clues in this story that eventually lead to the identity of the killer. There are only a couple of pathetic, obviously constructed red herrings inserted into the script long after a reasonably astute viewer has deduced everything for him or herself. I mean, the average episode of Speed Buggy or Jabberjaw had a more elaborate mystery to solve than this film.

That narrative weakness isn't that aggravating because writer/director Hope emphasizes the characters and their interrelationships over plot developments. The roles are all fairly clichéd - "girl acting out", "jock jackass", "super strict father" - but they're well constructed clichés and the cast perfectly provides the formulaic performances for which they were asked. Except for Jeff Daniel Phillips, who appears to be doing a bad Jack Nicholson impersonation all the time he's on screen. And the connections/confrontations between the characters achieve a certain believability. For example, you can feel the layered friendship between Jillian and Sarah and the long standing animosity between Billy and Jasper.

Unfortunately, the blankest and least developed character in Elsewhere is also the main character in the story. Sarah has the most lines and is in almost every scene, but has the least amount of personality in the whole cast. That's not Kendrick's fault. She doesn't do a bad acting job. There's simply nothing distinctive, individualistic or interesting about Sarah. Having such a void as the leading role undermines every dramatic aspect of the movie. It's not a fatal flaw but, geez, this thing would have been soooooo much better if Sarah has disappeared and Jillian had been the one to look for her.

Elsewhere does look good, moves at a satisfactory clip and has several effective though quite illogical scares. Combined with more than adequate acting in all but one case, that's usually enough for a film like this. But the emptiness of its plot and main character prevents Elsewhere from being fully entertaining. It's certainly better than most of the crap out there, yet there's no need to go out of your way to see it.

not worth the effort

[dbborroughs · 4/10 · 20 June 2009]

Small Indiana town has a problem, it teen girls are going missing, though no one really is paying attention. When Sarah's best friend goes missing after meeting one of her on-line dates she's dropped into the towns underbelly. Nominal horror movie is really little more than a psycho on the loose tale with some mystery and fancy trappings thrown in. Not really original, much of the teen cast looks to be 5 to 10 years too old for their roles, Sarah's girlfriend seemingly about 15 to 20 years too old.Unremarkable in most aspects this seems to be a throw back to a quieter gentler time where movies were inoffensive. I'm not a fan and I doubt any one else will be too since the film, while well done in numerous technical aspects (the film looks good), too many other bits, including the plot, don't hang together. I would leave the film in its titled place and not take it home with you.

Wholly unremarkable. Good title, worthless plot. For kiddies who are a tat too old for R.L. Stines "Goosebumps"? Like ... 6 months too old? 5? Maybe 3 months?

[The_Melancholic_Alcoholic · 2/10 · 20 June 2009]

I would warn you against spoilers but then, this film spoilers itself in first five minutes or so. Okay, so this is what is called a Fully Predictable Film. We see the two HUGE archetypal stereotypes in film-land, The Goody Good Girl (Anna Kendrick) and The Bad Girl (Tania Raymonde, who is really sliding), which they cared so little about they haven't even bothered to change their character names, much: The GirlScout and Da B--- (Female Dog). Just in case we didn't get it. (With that, this film is just one notch, a real tiny, tiny, tiny, notch up from R.L. Stines "Goosebumps", but that show was GOOD in it's genre). Soooo, Bad Girl is a Slutty-ish Type of a girl which does Slutty Things like plaster herself all over the net in skimpy underwear (okay, okay, it's NOT skimpier than Yer Regular Ol' Beach Wear, but hey, you get the picture). She has some Facebook-type of an internet-page where she has some 800 'friends' ... per day. All male of course. She has this super duper stereotypical Momma, who is Poor White Trash Personified, who lives in a trailer park (where else?) and who makes her money by selling Stuff Nobody Needs over the phone. Goody Good Girl is also raised by a single mom, but this one has a Good Job and is Conveniently Outta Town For The Weekend, so the pleasantries can ensue. Whateverrrr.

Anyways, then there's the Big School Dance (of course!) and Goody Good Girl wants to hook up with Jock Type of an A-whole, but of course him being the Jock Type A-whole, he has to accuse her of being a prick tease when she doesn't immediately 'handle' his schlong, and she is rescued by Nerdy Geek Boy (who's also handy with computers, works in the frakking library(!) AND he's on his way to Stanford!! Doesn't come any geek-nerdier than that. So Nerdy Geek Boy rescues Goody Good Girl from Gropy Jock Type A-whole, they go outside and they see Slutty Bad Girl fighting with Dumb Ex-Boyfriend who is of course ... Da Mean Aggressive Type! Then of course we know that Something Very Awful will happen to Slutty Bad Girl. Sure enough, Goody Good Girl receives the obligatory grainy video on her cellphone indicating Slutty Bad Girl is in Serious Trouble.

Obviously, Goody Good Girl calls Da Cops and we'd expect the police to Do Something, but since Slutty Bad Girl is Poor White Trash and has pee-ed off the Teen Molesting Rapey Amateur Local Cop, nothing is done about it, and nobody believes Goody Good Girl. Then WEEKS go by, while Nerdy Geek Boy & Goody Good Girl do their Nancy-Drew-Hardy-Boys-Teen-Detective thing.

All of a sudden, in a desperate attempt to rescue The Story Line there enters Strange Religious Man, whose daughter, Freaky Outcast Girl turns out to be the co-worker of Goody Good Girl & Bad Girl. He's also IMMEDIATELY The Main Suspect, and the viewer is never left in doubt about that. There's no intrigue, no multiple suspects, nothing. This is the Big Bad Killer, and there's very little suspense after that. The film tries to imitate When a Stranger Calls and Scream .... BADLY!!! You keep waiting for a plot twist but then the credits roll and you know It's All Over.

The only remarkable thing is that they take a whopping 1h46m to tell this!

The Melancholic Alcoholic. 2/10.

Not really good, it could be a regular class B horror movie

[octavo-cuervo · 6/10 · 16 June 2009]

This may see as a kind of expensive for a B series movie. It seems that there is a rule in all movies with a small town as the main scenario, and it is that at least one of the characters usually feels limited in the little town. This is the case of Jillian, a waitress in a local coffee shop who also is father-orphan and has a hard relationship with his mother. Jill and Sarah, the main character, are best friends and opposite sites of a coin. When Jillian begins to see men attracted to her by her sexy profile in an Internet site, Sarah realizes the great danger for her friend. Finally the expected happens and Jill disappears after one date with a guy met through his internet page. Since this moment the movie is centered in the Sarah's search for her girlfriend. The movie, as you have read is not original at all, and the only nice thing seen on it is the good (but very short) acting of Tania Raymonde as Jillian. Maybe the only interesting things came from the few mix of suspects that are presented in the film, including an ex-boyfriend of Jillian, a library rat friend and the father of a colleague at the coffee shop, plus all the strange men included in his internet profile.

This movie could have been better

[SMALLWHEELS101 · 1/10 · 4 September 2012]

I'm really surprised people are giving more that three stars here. The movie just started out really good, but just ended awful. I'll admit i watched it because Paul wesly was in it, but it made it seem like he was a main character, and he was rarely in the movie, plus his character made no sense. and I figured out who the killer was right away they made it so obvious. The main actress at least acted well considering this awful film. But there was this stupid scene where the father came into the daughters room and the main character was hiding behind the door (clearly could be seen) and the father missed her? there is no way, she wasn't really even hiding behind the door. another was when they show the mother of the daughter who was killed not caring then all of a sudden is crying in another scene, then that's it we never hear from her. I was hoping they would save the story and the mother would get involved but nope. so ya there it is..awful

Good enough

[fiona-sharman8 · 7/10 · 22 March 2013]

I thought this was a pretty good movie overall. It is not a horror but it contains a thrill or two. Its very real and it has a smidgen of mystery to it as well. I thought it was a good twist and I love movies that allow enough time for you to work out the ending or who it was! So some might say it was a 'slow' film. But it kept me interested long enough. It has pretty much no romance in it though. But I have grown to love the main character in lots of her movies overtime. So if your running low on movies to watch or a little bored you could enjoy this one. I enjoyed it. Corny, Mystery and humour all in the one. so i have rated it 7/10 because it doesn't really tickle my sensitive nerve which i love when movies do.

Boring mystery thriller.

[poolandrews · 2/10 · 5 February 2010]

Elsewhere is set in a small US town where best friends Sarah (Anna Kendrick) & Jillian (Tania Raymonde) work in a small town café together, however Jillian has far greater ambitions & has set herself up an on-line internet account where she poses for naughty photo's & gets to turn anonymous men on all over the world. Jillain's ex boyfriend Chris (Joshua Swanson is having a part & while Sarah wants to go Jillain says she has other plans & hints at meeting one of her on-line admirers cryptically called MrX, that night at the party Sarah sees Jillain arguing with Chris but thinks little of it until she gets a call from Jillain the next day asking for help. No-one seems to have seen Jillian since the night of the party & Sarah becomes convinced something bad has happened to her best friend & sets out to play detective & find out what has happened but at the risk of her own life...

Written & directed by Nathan Hope I must admit right away that I though Elsewhere was as boring & rubbish a mystery thriller as I could have been unfortunate enough to have to sit through, seriously this is really bland & dull going for all of it's overlong 105 odd minute duration. For a start it's painfully slow, even having watched it all it felt like nothing barely happened, the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Jillian didn't do anything for me as she was fairly unlikable to start with & the the two-bit nothing excuse of a lame ending just makes you feel made at having wasted so much time on this. Basically it is never revealed what happened to Jillain, sure it makes clear that she is dead but the where & how are strangely absent with some rubbish about a guy killing her because she wanted to make him do bad things, yeah that's the entire plot & the script never goes into it any deeper than that. Is that dumb revelation really worth investing so much time in? No, it isn't & as someone who did invest the time I am fully qualified to say. There are various subplots that go absolutely nowhere like the sinister cop, Jillain's mum & Chris the boyfriend who are all totally forgotten about & barely make any sort of impact because their screen time & character's are so limited. The dialogue is bland, the character's are poor & the plot is just a boring whodunit with an extremely weak twist ending which doesn't really even qualify as much of a twist since it's what most people will be expecting.

There's a fairly strong anti-Internet char room type message going on here as that is more or less blamed for Jillian's death (but what about the previous victims?) & again religious fanaticism is also hung up as a great evil. Apart from a few drops of blood at the end there is zero gore here, I mean there isn't even a dead body seen & no-one is killed on screen either & it's just as dry as the Sahara desert. The whole film looks like an average made for telly flick with competent if bland production values & a totally forgettable small town setting. There is no tension, atmosphere, nothing builds-up & the cautionary moralising means you'll wish you were elsewhere to...

With a supposed budget of about $500,000 this has reasonable if bland production values. Apparently filmed in Indiana. The acting is alright but the cast can't help make this plodding nonsense any more enjoyable.

Elsewhere is a tedious mystery thriller that is neither mysterious or thrilling, it's predictable & boring & not worth wasting your time with. Get your entertainment elsewhere, but not this Elsewhere if you know what I mean...

A sharp, edgy teen thriller

[rosswilcock1 · 7/10 · 12 July 2019]

This really brought me back to the days of cheesy teen thrillers and horrors I grew up with.

This film was a surprise in such a great way! I was not expecting much and got a pretty decent film.

I will be honest though it suffers a lot from being really cheesy at first and some pretty poor acting from some actors but overall a fun watch and truly creepy film well worth the watch as of July 2019 this film is available on Amazon Prime UK am I do suggest checking it out

Decent acting, but so cliché and dull your time is better spent on their other movies

[buckskin_77 · 2/10 · 13 January 2014]

Movie has okay acting, but the plot line is dull and clichéd, much like every other aspect of the movie. Cinematography is pretty artsy and tasteful, although much of it is blue-toned (reminiscent of Harry Potter 7 Part 1) for added mysterious and negative effect. No surprises with character development (there is hardly any) or plot twists (again, none) and while you might like it to watch Anna or Tania, you'd be better off watching the actors and actresses in better-formulated movies. You'll spend a better use of your time.

Also, I have a BIG BEEF with the setting!!!

This is SO not Goshen, IN. None of the picture or sets they used are actual places or even close to it. And Goshen has never had mysteries like women disappearing because of internet creeps....Ugh, this irritates me when they try to cliché real towns. Goshen's not even that small! And in fact, it's very much into the modern age - bigger and better than Elkhart, the neighbor city I grew up in, that's for sure. School systems are excellent, the County seat and Fairgrounds are there (2nd largest Fair in the country, and no that doesn't mean it's hicksville, we had Lady Antebellum two years ago), some of the best craftsmen in the country, and even a college. Geez, it's not some "small-town Indiana where bad things happen and kids feel trapped" like this movie wants to make it into. As a writer myself, I firmly believe that unless you are very familiar with with the city or town you are setting something in, you just need to make up your own town. Otherwise you make an entire audience view it in whatever light you want it to be for your story, and that's not fair to the city or the people that live there.

Far more entertaining than one expects

[gamer_12 · 8/10 · 10 July 2009]

So many direct-to-DVD films, especially horror-thriller ones are terrible that when something like Elsewhere comes along, some semblance of hope is restored. Writer-director Nathan Hope has constructed a mystery that while fairly easy to figure out rather quickly, still holds your interest throughout just to see how we get to where we think the story is going.

A lot of credit has to go to the cast. As the intrepid, intelligent, and likable lead, Anna Kendrick, now most known because of her role in the Twilight films, does a great job of making us believe that she cares deeply about finding her missing friend. She portrays a sense of screen presence usually not seen from actors of her age. Based on her work here, she, instead of Kristen Stewart, should have been given the role of Bella in the aforementioned vampire saga. It'll be interesting to see where Kendrick's career goes because she definitely has potential.

As the missing friend, Tania Raymonde has charisma, managing to make what easily could have been a despicably obnoxious character oddly likable, important because we actually care about discovering her fate. She and Kendrick share a nice rapport as well, almost instantly believable as best friends in spite of their varying personalities.

Strong writing and a dynamic cast make Elsewhere definitely a place worth visiting.

Kendrick shows early signs of class in an unpolished film

[jtindahouse · 6/10 · 11 November 2021]

I always enjoy going back and watching actor/actresses work they did before they were household names. 2009 was very early in Anna Kendrick's career, although it should be noted she was nominated for an Academy Award for 'Up in the Air' which was released the same year. 'Elsewhere' came out first though and although it was likely very few recognised her at the time, they would've noticed she was a class about the rest of the cast. She's given some reasonably clunky dialogue in a lot of scenes in this movie and almost always finds a way to make it work.

The tone of the movie is a little off. It's dealing with some pretty serious subject matter, and yet at times it feels more like a romantic-comedy than anything else. I understand you have to build your characters up and keep them likeable, however don't do it at the expense of the tone of the film. This film was at its best when it was treating itself seriously and dealing with the dark subject matter at hand.

'Elsewhere' could've done with a lot of polishing, however it is certainly not unwatchable. Kendrick's performance and a decent whodunnit story-line are enough to keep it afloat. A generous 6/10.

Nothing New, pretty predictable yet can be seen Once

[saadgkhan · 4/10 · 14 August 2010]

ELSEWHERE – CATCH IT ( C+ ) Its one of those movies, you know what's going to happen next and somehow you even know the killer too. At least I Knew! I saw this movie for Anna Kendrick, as after Up in the Air I wanted to see her all previous work, she was a Scene Stealer in Rocket Science and she did a fine job in this movie as well. Other mentionable face, who has got some fame now is Paul Wesley, he was good in his bad Avatar. By the way from the beginning I was wondering, who is that smart girl "Jillian "who gets killed. And finally after finishing the movie I checked on IMDb that she is the Alex Roussos from LOST. Ohh she was really good as a bad girl this time though completely different from her role in Lost, where she is all good Girl though also get Killed in that too. Overall it can be seen once with no expectations.

it was ok

[WankerReviews · 4/10 · 31 August 2020]

The movie was okay, the mystery behind everything kept me watching, but I didn't feel bad for the missing girl. She was obnoxious and rude, but I did like how they showed not all missing people are innocent, but they still don't deserve what happened to them. The movie does a good job at keeping you guessing, although if you watch enough movies, you know the obvious suspects aren't going to be the culprit.

The direction is reminicent of a Nancy Drew novel

[jordondave-28085 · 6/10 · 9 October 2023]

(2009) Elsewhere THRILLER/ SUSPENSE/ MYSTERY

Watchable straight-to-rental Nancy Drew-like mystery thriller co-written and directed by Sheldon Lettich about a couple of missing teens, and the one looking for one of them who happens to be the star, Sarah (Anna Kendrick) of the movie's best friend, Jillian (Tania Raymonde) meeting someone on-line. Expect plot holes, logic and the fact that viewers may be able to guess the perpetrators doing this before the star herself even knows herself. I appreciate the fact that their are no cringing-like moments, and that the tone itself is reminiscent of a Nancy Drew novel.

Awful Acting and Lacking Thrills Long and Boring

[LeonLouisRicci · 4/10 · 6 November 2014]

Although the Movie Looks Pretty Good and is Slickly Presented for a Very Low Budget Entry in the Teen Hottie in Peril Category, this is Far from an Engaging Story and is So Bland, Considering its Subject Matter, One Wonders, What's the Point?

If it's an Attempt at Making a Non-Gory, Serial-Killer, Social Media Warning, it Mostly Fails to Make an Impression, of Any Kind. It is Even Less than Mediocre Because it is Even Less than Anything Approaching Entertaining for its Target Audience.

The Acting is Universally Bad, Especially the Non-Hotties. The Trailer Park Mother is a Clichéd, Chain Smoking, TV Watcher who is So Familiar it Bores to Tears. The Shaking Alcoholic Mother of the First Missing Girl Overacts So Much it is Amazing the Director Allowed the Performance to Stand. The Male Actors, the Cop, the Nerd, and the Father are All just Awful.

Overall, it is Not Even Worth a Watch because it is Anemic, Embarrassingly Acted, and Fails to Deliver the Minimum of Suspense and Thrills that is Central to this Kind of Thing.

Note...For Fairness and Balance...there is one good Acting turn and that is Olivia Dawn York. She delivers the only believable Character in a Cast of Thespians who would have benefited from a Director that seemed to be Elsewhere.

Not worth the time

[nicolaperrin · 2/10 · 5 May 2021]

Rubbish plot, awful acting, predictable ending.

I wish I hadn't wasted my time on this. I'm really disappointed in Anna Kendrick's acting too. It's like she just couldn't be bothered to put any effort in. It was also so dark at times that I couldn't see what was happening and that was with my phone brightness at the highest level.

Anna Kendrick Shines in this Underrated Indie Thriller

[solojere · 9/10 · 25 July 2021]

A young Anna Kendrick Shines in this underrated Indie Thriller/Drama. When people online talk about Anna Kendrick's films, this one is always listed towards the bottom. And while it isn't a perfect film, and it's no Pitch Perfect, I thought it was pretty good, all things considered. First, it's worth knowing going in that Elsewhere is more of a thriller than a horror film. In fact, the film's premise is similar to one of Anna's other film's A Simple Favor. Like A Simple Favor, Anna Kendrick's all of a sudden goes missing, and it is up to her to figure out what happened. However, unlike A Simple Favor, Elsewhere has a more serious tone, which isn't a bad thing. In this film, Sarah (Anna Kendrick) finds herself searching for her best friend Jillian, who has made a lot of poor decisions talking to potential male predators online. The characters are a little more one-dimensional in this film, which for the most part is okay as it is a crime thriller where everyone is a suspect. However, it would have been nice to see Sarah have a little more character development. She is not completely one-dimensional, but I would have like to have seen a little more. The second thing people should remember while watching this is that this is an indie film, and it was made very early on in Anna's career. Other than Anna Kenrick, none of the other actors are amazing, but they are decent for the most part. For example. Jillian's awkward interactions with her mother felt genuine, and I really related to Sarah not knowing what to do or say in those moments. Also, Sarah should get a friend of the year award for all she does to try and find Jillian. I won't give anything away, but I would definitely recommend it for Anna Kendrick alone.

Seen better Elsewhere

[ronaldsonphil · 3/10 · 2 May 2021]

The film is watchable but nothing more. It actually could've been a good low budget horror film with a bit of eroticism but failed on both counts. Anna Kendrick was fine as was get library partner but the guy who played the local cop was as bad an actor as I've seen for decades!

Pretty Good!!! c-r-e-e-p-y

[BronzeKeilani26 · 8/10 · 29 May 2009]

I loved the way this movie flowed and it held my interest all the way through! Very intense. It was surprisingly good and extremely creepy. The direction went in quite a few different ways with sub-plots careening about, a suspicious acting cop, jilted boyfriends, an alcoholic mother driven mad by loss, Internet-perverts, a creepy lonely female teen, and an unsolved string of teen abductions, as the description of the film states. It also made it difficult to guess if there was a murder or not, and if so, who did it??? Something was terribly wrong though and Sarah insisted on finding out! I guess that's what kept me wide awake. I was so tired before the film started, I doubted I could keep my eyes open all the way through. It's ability to keep us intensely guessing on a variety of things till the very end had us so pumped up we started yelling at the screen *blush*. It's so embarrassing when a film brings all the emotions out of us, lol. Tania Raymonde was very convincing in her role as the high spirited, wild Jillian. Anna Kendrick, from the vampire movie Twilight, plays small town girl, Sarah, best friend to Jillian. She's the only one Jillian has and only person who cares that Jillian hadn't been seen for a few days, eventually leading to weeks. Most of us never really pay attention to other people's tragedies or issues until it affects us directly on a personal level. Sarah's search for Jillian brings her closer to a distraught mother who had been putting missing posters up for her daughter, missing for 5 yrs. The tiny community had lost sympathy for the mother after the first 3yrs. her daughter went missing. Everyone simply considered the girl either dead or a runaway who was never returning...But, the mother's refusal to give up on finding the truth behind of her daughter's disappearance catches Sarah's fullest attention once her best friend comes up missing, than secrets about Jillian and the town begin to unfold!