Vashirdfel
Simply A Masterpiece
Ensofter
Overrated and overhyped
Baseshment
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Senteur
As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
Rachel Cobleigh
I was expecting an awkward preachy "Christian" movie, but the acting was excellent and the story twisted me around and I practically cried straight through the last half hour of this movie. Every single character was well motivated, and the plot and character development played out at a good pace. Characters that you hate you later come to sympathize with. No one is all good or all bad; they felt real. Their actions made perfect sense, in retrospect, given their experiences and their isolation. Their accents took a little while to become accustomed to, though. We found that we had to use the subtitles to follow everything that was going on. Once we got used to them, though, we were drawn into the story. The flashbacks at the end of the movie were particularly wrenching. You'll be emotionally drained and elated by the time you finish this movie. It's a must-see.
C P
Discard all suspicions about this film, and WATCH IT!I am hardly impressed by a movie, but this movie deeply impressed me, something that hasn't happened to me since the days of Forrest Gump and the long death walks in The Green Mile...A movie about life and about death, about love and about hate, about peace and about sacrifice, about the Holy Truth, absolutely stunning and impeccable acting, extraordinary soundtrack, amazingly original script, I'm giving it my vote for the best film of the year!I recommend this movie with all the warmth in my hearth, especially if you are a Christian and believe in God and in His sacrifice for us all! 10 out of 10, I would give it more but I can't...
spinnwolf
This is a work of art with universal appeal. The fact that the "Christian right" is claiming it as their own, should not turn off everyone else. Whether your world view is shaped by Jungian archetypes, Western philosophy, Eastern karma, or the books of Judaism, you will find deep meaning in this tiny-budget film.The landscape is overwhelming, the characters captivating and the last few minutes of the film will require at least two hankies. Liana Liberato turns in a stunning performance as Cadi, the guilt burdened child around whom the story revolves; and Peter Wingfield brings incredible warmth and passion to a character whose face is obscured for most of the film. This work will endure as an art classic.
popdrome
Let me start off by saying I am not a Christian (I DO believe in God but I'm afraid that doesn't make me a Christian) - and to answer your question: YES, this is a *Christian* movie, with a very clear message, but I won't spoil the plot for you.The story in a nutshell is the awakening of a Welsh community in early America, coming to terms with their dark history, seen through the eyes of a ten year old child.There are flaws. It's based on a novel, so the director had to make difficult choices to narrow down the plot for screen time. The editing wasn't good and led to some incoherency and superficial plot holes. The story sometimes wasn't going anywhere, and the 'horror' scenes best could've been left out, they seem out of place. Special effects looked cheap. Last and least: the accents. They should've invested a bit more in accent training because this sounded like a far fetched (teethless) dialect..But there's some good performances to be admired. First of all, I tip my hat for Liana Liberato. What a great actress at such a young age. Secondly Soren Fulton did a great job and there was lots of chemistry between him and Liana. And what about Louise Fletcher?! Excellent. The actress who once played the horrid nurse Pratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest).. she performed wonderfully and was brilliantly cast.So let's see what we have here. If you take all these things into account and you're not scared off by evangelism - not bad for a Sunday afternoon.