June 9 (2008)

I didn't expect to like this movie... and for the first fifteen minutes I really didn't... for the next half hour after that I was on the fence... but by the middle of the movie I was pretty much into it. The thing is, the characters are presented in a way unlike how a mainstream movie would do it. They aren't pretty and they aren't smart and they aren't 'cool'... they're just ordinary bored punks wasting their summer together. You have to stick with this movie and let it move at its own pace.

At first you expect the movie is, like most Hollywood movies, in love with the protagonists... selling the characters to be admirable somehow... but it really isn't. It just lets you watch them and slowly get to know them. It's so rare that a movie would take the time like this one does in letting you get to know the protagonists. Not that you ever grow to love them, the movie doesn't want you to anyway... but the kids and their abrasive behavior begin to be nuanced with their other shortcomings... and you recognize them as being like people you've known. Their initial swagger is all for show and they're really deeply vulnerable. Great acting on the parts of the main performers carried this off like no smug Hollywood 'stars' ever could have.

The weakest parts of the movie were some of the townsfolk and the scattered 'FX' jump-cuts. I also think it was a BIG mistake to put the giveaway shot of the TV at the beginning of the movie... this movie needs some subtler method of foreshadowing than that. It's obviously influenced by Blair Witch, which I loved... but its got a lot of unique elements of its own that most folks are gonna miss or ignore. Some have said the violence looks 'fake' and I think that's a reaction based on having only seen violence in other movies where it's done in a more cinematic way than it is here. This isn't a particularly cinematic film... there is nothing spectacular about the violence. It's done in a very matter-of-fact sort of way. This isn't really the sort of movie that scares you much while you're watching it... but it will creep back into your mind later and haunt you... if you're patient enough to give it a chance.

*SPOILER* The bits at the end with the Lisa character were most disturbing for me because, while she comes off as one of the more innocent characters her final scenes are some of the most brutal.

Also, for people who are so SHOCKED!!! that there are small children present during the violent scenes... just stick to Disney movies why dontcha?