I recently watched this short tragic comedy as part of my quest to go through the entirety of Amber Heard's filmography.
As such, I have to, above anything else, point out that although Amber Heard - who plays Mary, the mother of the titular character Sarah (played by Elle Fanning) - gets as little screen time as any supporting character could get in such a short movie, she manages to give us enough to notice just how versatile she is as an actress. Indeed, this is her first role as a mother that I've so far come across in her early works and she pulls it off just as well as she pulls off the more sexualized childless younger characters that she was often pigeonholed into in these early works of hers.
This is not to say that she isn't sexualized in this short movie cause she is. For example, this is done most notably within the first two minutes of the movie through Sarah's description of Mary which, to me, came off as somewhat off-putting (and not as comedic as Henley may have wanted it to come across) considering that Sarah is a child and Mary is her mother.
Despite this and other instances of her sexualization, I found Henley's depiction of Amber Heard, through Mary, to have been more mature, respectful, and deeper than how other directors in that time period depicted her through more overtly sexually objectified characters. For instance, in one scene, Mary is shown to be reading and through most of the movie, her agency and positive approach to parenting is clearly portrayed. I found these aspects of Mary to have been truer to Heard's off-screen character and, not surprisingly, Heard performs them the most convincingly.
In all then, even in this early stage of her career and within such a short movie, Amber Heard succeeds in showing us that she is best when playing characters with more depth than those intended to be merely eye candy and sexual objects. I just wish more directors saw through her beauty and made the most out of her by giving her more roles with depth.
That said, an important point of note concerning Amber Heard for anyone intending to watch this movie though is that there's a sexual assault scene. Although the assault is merely heard and not seen, viewers should be advised that it could be difficult for them to listen to it in the context of the knowledge that Amber Heard is a survivor of sexual assault in the hands of her ex-husband. I personally found it difficult to listen to the scene. Also difficult to watch for similar reasons was Mary's abusive husband's treatment of Mary.
Besides Amber Heard, Elle Fanning's performance is also worthy of note and I'd definitely recommend this movie to anyone interested in watching her brilliance in the earliest stages of her career. The rest of the performances besides those of Heard and Fanning are, although not bad, rather ordinary and forgettable.
I think that it is also worth noting that while the movie manages to be genuinely comedic at times, the ending left a bitter taste in my mouth. On the one hand, the ending could be read, rather objectionably, as a caution or scare against attempts at stopping abuses lest those committing the abuses suffer more fatal consequences than anticipated due to one's attempts at stopping them. On the other hand, it could be read, rather welcomingly, as a note on how fatal the price to pay for committing abuses sometimes could be. Either way, the ending contrasts sharply with the comedic air that permeates most of the movie - excepting the parts involving Mary's abuse and sexual assault by her husband of course.
All that said, I moderately recommend this movie both to Amber Heard's and Elle Fanning's fans and to all those folks that find the mixing of comedy, horror, and suspense within a suburban 2000s Texan setting their thing.
As such, I have to, above anything else, point out that although Amber Heard - who plays Mary, the mother of the titular character Sarah (played by Elle Fanning) - gets as little screen time as any supporting character could get in such a short movie, she manages to give us enough to notice just how versatile she is as an actress. Indeed, this is her first role as a mother that I've so far come across in her early works and she pulls it off just as well as she pulls off the more sexualized childless younger characters that she was often pigeonholed into in these early works of hers.
This is not to say that she isn't sexualized in this short movie cause she is. For example, this is done most notably within the first two minutes of the movie through Sarah's description of Mary which, to me, came off as somewhat off-putting (and not as comedic as Henley may have wanted it to come across) considering that Sarah is a child and Mary is her mother.
Despite this and other instances of her sexualization, I found Henley's depiction of Amber Heard, through Mary, to have been more mature, respectful, and deeper than how other directors in that time period depicted her through more overtly sexually objectified characters. For instance, in one scene, Mary is shown to be reading and through most of the movie, her agency and positive approach to parenting is clearly portrayed. I found these aspects of Mary to have been truer to Heard's off-screen character and, not surprisingly, Heard performs them the most convincingly.
In all then, even in this early stage of her career and within such a short movie, Amber Heard succeeds in showing us that she is best when playing characters with more depth than those intended to be merely eye candy and sexual objects. I just wish more directors saw through her beauty and made the most out of her by giving her more roles with depth.
That said, an important point of note concerning Amber Heard for anyone intending to watch this movie though is that there's a sexual assault scene. Although the assault is merely heard and not seen, viewers should be advised that it could be difficult for them to listen to it in the context of the knowledge that Amber Heard is a survivor of sexual assault in the hands of her ex-husband. I personally found it difficult to listen to the scene. Also difficult to watch for similar reasons was Mary's abusive husband's treatment of Mary.
Besides Amber Heard, Elle Fanning's performance is also worthy of note and I'd definitely recommend this movie to anyone interested in watching her brilliance in the earliest stages of her career. The rest of the performances besides those of Heard and Fanning are, although not bad, rather ordinary and forgettable.
I think that it is also worth noting that while the movie manages to be genuinely comedic at times, the ending left a bitter taste in my mouth. On the one hand, the ending could be read, rather objectionably, as a caution or scare against attempts at stopping abuses lest those committing the abuses suffer more fatal consequences than anticipated due to one's attempts at stopping them. On the other hand, it could be read, rather welcomingly, as a note on how fatal the price to pay for committing abuses sometimes could be. Either way, the ending contrasts sharply with the comedic air that permeates most of the movie - excepting the parts involving Mary's abuse and sexual assault by her husband of course.
All that said, I moderately recommend this movie both to Amber Heard's and Elle Fanning's fans and to all those folks that find the mixing of comedy, horror, and suspense within a suburban 2000s Texan setting their thing.
