WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

WakenPayne I also really enjoyed Allison Anders' movie Gas Food Lodging (which I saw because I kind of like Fairuza Balk as an actress and the trailer looked really good). After ending on a high note I decided to take a look at this after seeing what it was about and how personal it really was to Anders herself (in the sense she was raped and in the same room they shot the rape scene in). This looked like it was going to be amazingly powerful and it was.The plot of this movie is that a struggling punk singer/songwriter named Sherry is found drunk and disorderly outside someone's house and it isn't the first time she did that on the exact same house. A rock magazine writer then finds out about her and also that she has a song called "Never Know Your Name" about her rape which ended up in her becoming unable to have any children. It then turns out that not only were they childhood friends but he knows the guy who raped her, it is his brother. He then decides to interview her about this but also lets enough information slip that he knows and the rest of the movie is them dealing with what happened.The directing is perfect, this is some of the best directing for a drama movie. Some of the scenes in this are some of the most uncomfortable scenes I have ever seen, which all stays true to the spirit of the story. Allison Anders, because of this is becoming one of my favourite directors and I will see more of her stuff.The acting of this movie, Oh god where do I start? It is phenomenal. Everyone puts in a really stellar performance in this movie. It also probably is some of the best acting I've seen put on film.If there is anyone who I think wouldn't like this movie would be the kind of people who watch the Hollywood glossed over dramas with one sided character portrayals all throughout. Now don't get me wrong this movie has one sided character portrayals too but unlike the Hollywood dramas, they're needed (because there really is no other way to portray people like rapists as anything other than some of the lowest scum humanity has to offer). But the real reason is that when everything wraps up, the people are learning to live with their mistakes and tragedies - yes but it still adopts the same tone most of this movie which is actually pretty sad.So if you don't mind watching a drama movie with a really cold portrayal of... pretty much everything then this movie is for you. This is a really sad movie - I'm not kidding and I've seen The Bicycle Thief and Downfall. While this isn't as sad as Downfall it does come pretty close. I personally think it is a masterpiece of dramatic film-making.

Lorace Dem I didn't like the 90's grunge aesthetics (was Sherri based on Courtney Love?) of this film or the borderline soft-core porn sex scenes at the beginning. I get however that the scenes are there to show that both of the main characters are still acting out sexual dysfunction from the central traumatic event in the film. Owen prematurely ejaculates due to the trauma and has trouble getting close to people because he was sexually abused by his much older brother. Owen was just a child when they physically dragged him into the room, assaulted and threatened him into sexually performing against his will with this girl they were raping. As he says, his body betrayed him, and it is a common reaction for boys who are scared or nervous to get an erection; it is something many male survivors deal with.Yet Own is treated with contempt in the film, yelled at, hit, and people act like he deserves to have guilt. But Owen was also a survivor, suffering from PTSD and he deserved closure and healing just as much as Sherri did. He was not responsible for what happened but he did a great thing by coming back and trying to make some of it right. It's too bad that the film couldn't lend him a more sympathetic ear but rather uses him as a scapegoat for the anger the other characters feel about what happened to her. No one feels angry about what was done to him. There is no comparing pain, there is no hierarchy of trauma that justifies everyone self-righteously dismissing people like Owen.I only watched this film because I follow Gabriel Mann and because I am also a male survivor of sexual abuse, and child pornography where I was forced by adults to act out scenes with other children. And I'm certainly not partly to blame along with the child pornographers for that.

trouvere_2000 I ran into this movie by accident flipping channels late-night mainly because I live in Cocoa Beach and I instantly recognized the backdrop area of the film.The fabulous acting drew me in instantly - my reaction to the film was a huge "WOW". The movie is a powerful drama, not only about rape and the psychological and physical damages it causes, but the fact that doing nothing about it can be morally construed in some situations to be just as much of a crime. While it's been said that this is a "simple" film as far as the plot line may be concerned, the characters and their emotions are very complex, with top-notch acting performances capturing every nuance.This movie is very difficult to watch at certain points for anyone who has the slightest degree of empathy, for it portrays some very intense traumatic situations in an extremely realistic and non "Hollywood-ized" manner. The way the movie is shot and directed, it makes you feel like you are standing right there in person as each scene takes place, and that "nearness" will be very powerful with your emotions as you watch the film.I highly recommend this movie if you like a strong drama that really pulls your heart and emotions into the characters and story. This is a very "real" film that will definitely affect you. It's definitely not "fluff"; it's not a comedy or a love story; but it is a very good movie that is well worth watching.

Lynne Bronstein I had hoped this would be good but it took my breath away. It also brought tears to my eyes. I think this movie should be seen by everyone but especially by those involved in rape trials. Someone else on this board questioned whether a boy could be forced into a a rape as shown in the movie. We don't know the answer to that because men's magazines don't run articles about how men feel about rape and masculine conditioning and bonding. And our prison system doesn't cure rapists, it just teaches all the inmates how to rape or be raped. "Things Behind The Sun" is suggesting that we are way behind in examining the victimization of men by the behavior patterns they are taught to accept as "normal." And for those who think women and girls should simply not "get into situations" where rape can occur, the movie shows how difficult it is to avoid such situations-because how can we always know when someone will exploit the situation? I applaud this movie for taking risks and for raising questions about human behavior. And I also applaud the performances and the writing.