The Woodsman

I held my breath throughout this film wondering if he would repeat his mistakes. It was obvious that this was a molester of young girls who hated himself and you could see him fighting the whole way through. Possibly many people who gave this film a low rating said to themselves that a portrayal of a paedophile deserved no sympathy and the producers should not have made it. But the film addressed two salient facts. Firstly there are far more paedophiles around than caught and this type of thing happens frequently in a domestic situation. Far more frequently than anyone is willing to admit. Secondly paedophiles come in many forms and some are as Walter is. He hates it but cannot help it without a huge amount of inner strength. At the end you do not know if he will do it again, it seems likely, but he hates himself and the urges he gets even more than others around him do. It was an intense film, very hard to watch but it points out some ugly truths which most people will not want to admit happens. yet there are a thousand stories of this happening with no one bought to justice. First class acting by all but no one will thank them for it (as we see from the ratings).