Elsewhere (2009)

A teen girl disappears after trying to meet men online in order to escape her small town. Apparently, only her best friend worries enough to investigate the mystery.

Director:

Nathan Hope

Writer:

Nathan Hope

Stars:

Anna Kendrick, Paul Wesley, Tania Raymonde

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Kendrick	...	Sarah
Paul Wesley	...	Billy
Tania Raymonde	...	Jillian
Chuck Carter	...	Jasper
Olivia Dawn York	...	Darla Tod
Jeff Daniel Phillips	...	Officer Berg (as Jeffrey Daniel Phillips)
Shannon Holt	...	Patty Melville
Kinna McInroe	...	Candy
Jon Gries	...	Mr. Tod
Dan Flannery	...	Mr. Palomino
Suzanne Lang	...	Maureen
Eduardo N. Martinez	...	Jonas (as Eddie Martinez)
Joshua Swanson	...	Chris
Holi Tavernier	...	Janet Melville
Pasquale Chase Rulli	...	Billy's Customer

Storyline

Sarah and Jillian have been best friends for so long they can't remember when their friendship started. Growing up in the small town of Goshen, Indiana the two girls couldn't be more different. Sarah is a star pupil and athlete, a 100-watt-bulb in a five-watt-town, while Jillian is star mischief-maker, a 100lbs-of-trouble in a five-pound-bag. Although both girls long to be break free of the small-town life, Jillian is the first to act, revealing to Sarah that she has been meeting men on-line with the sole purpose of finding someone who will "take her away from this place". Soon thereafter, she disappears leaving Sarah with only a journal and a cryptic video message sent from her cell-phone. Sarah soon discovers that the town would rather forget that Jillian had ever existed. Distraught, she delves into the secrets surrounding her disappearance. Aided by, Jasper, the resident computer geek who secretly adores her, the two plunge head-long into Goshen's dark secrets -- uncovering ...

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Plot Keywords:

small town | cell phone | couch potato | first kiss | necklace | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexual content, violence/disturbing images, and some drug and alcohol use by teens

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Desaparecida

Filming Locations:

Goshen, Indiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lost Toys

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 107 min (European Film Market)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paul Wesley is billed second, although he's a supporting character and not the male lead, and has quite limited screen time.

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Goofs

When Sarah (Anna Kendrick) is in the bus, she finds Jillian's phone, and it is on. Jillian had been gone for a couple of weeks at that point, and her phone shouldn't have needed to be recharged. A minute later she finds the phone of Janet, who had been missing for years. And still, her phone works perfectly fine, and it even has enough power to make a call.

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Quotes

Jasper: Jeez, I don't think I've gotten 500 messages my entire life!
Sarah: That's because you don't have boobs Jasper.

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Connections

References Point Break (1991)

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Soundtracks

"Nobody knows"
Performed by Cry On Cue

User Reviews

Not great,but entertaining and way better than I expected

I started watching Elsewhere with a bit of mistrust,because I have already tolerated too many juvenile thrillers lacking of any suspense or ingenuity,reliant that the hypocrite independent "touch" will be enough for distracting us from the same predictable clichés we also see on commercial cinema.Fortunately,Elsewhere did not fall on that,and it resulted to be much better than I expected.It has some important fails,but it kept me entertained thanks to its competent screenplay,solid performances and precise direction.

The story from this movie sounds as a modern and juvenile version of Blue Velvet.Needless to say Elsewhere does not reach that heights (it does not even aspire to) but it kept me interested because the story is well structured.However,it has various forced elements,at the same time there are a few occasions on which it believes it is more intelligent than what it really is.Another fail is that this film has a few scenes which could have easily been deleted because they do not add too much to the story.Nathan Hope's direction is solid because it is sober and the movie has a good rhythm and tone.The performances are competent.Anna Kendrick is more famous for her appearance on the popular film Twilight,where she did not have too much opportunity to stand out with her character.However,she brings a natural performance and a good presence on Elsewhere.Tania Raymond does not appear too much,but her performance is solid and her brief chemistry with Kendrick is very good.

In summary,Elsewhere is far from being a great movie and it is not very memorable,but it kept me interested and entertained.So,I think this film deserves a recommendation.