Restraint (II) (2017) User Reviews

It could have been a lot better...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 28 May 2019]

When I stumbled upon "Restraint" I hadn't even heard about it, nor did I know who was in it. But the movie's cover seemed interesting and it being a thriller definitely did help sell it to me.

I sat down to watch "Restraint" with no expectations. And now that it has finished, I must admit that I sit here somewhat feeling like 'was that really it?' I felt like director and writer Adam Cushman left so many unanswered questions and really didn't bring the movie full circle.

There were elements to "Restraint" that were rather interesting, just a shame that the script and storyline proved to be so slow paced, because that really deflated the rest of the movie, as it suffered from a stunted and hindered progression.

I can't claim to be familiar with the acting performances of Caitlyn Folley prior to "Restraint", but she carried this movie quite well with her performance. Just a shame that she didn't have a proper script to allow her to unfold her full potential. I don't think I've seen Dana Ashbrook in anything since the original "Twin Peaks", so it was sort of fun to watch him on the screen again.

"Restraint" was hardly an impressive movie, given the fact that the storyline served as an anchor dragging the movie down. It failed to adequately entertain me, and I must admit that my attention was failing a couple of times throughout the prolonged duration of this movie.

The storyline felt too forced and too generic, it there was no ups or downs to the movie, it just trotted on along a straight forward path with no twists or turns, which made for a less than mediocre movie experience.

Squandered potential, that is really how the movie can be summarized.

This made me want to go to a secret place

[inexplicable007 · 4/10 · 29 August 2019]

If you are expecting much from this film like a plot or entertainment then you have set your sights too high. This is an odd movie with dreary music but not odd enough to be interesting or rewatchable. Some awful older man who must have taken acting courses at the YMCA marries some dead pan younger woman who he expects to care for his odd looking young daughter who is mistreated by him and the stepmother. A lot of things are left unanswered, all you know is that the young woman is a nutcase however the older man is so distasteful along with his acting you wish she and he would be sent to na asylum. I would not recommend this movie at all nothing of note happens and the acting is pretty bad.

Say, "Hi Dad."

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 28 November 2018]

Angela (Caitlyn Folley) marries Jeff (Dana Ashbrook ) who likes to have sex from behind and wonders why his first wife up and left. He has a daughter (Isabella Celaya) from his first marriage. Angela starts to do things out of the norm, slipping off the rails more and more as the film progresses. The reasons for her behavior is not really explored. Her creative writing would have been better if we had seen the finished product. I thought the character development was rather poor even though they spent the entire film attempting to do just that.

Guide: F-word, sex, brief partial nudity.

Go ask Angela for a Banana, you get diabetes that way

[heatherlyinn-630-338757 · 1/10 · 28 September 2019]

This movie has to be the worst movie I have seen in years. These people are atrocious and leave you wanting them to die in horrible ways. The dialogue itself must have been first draft. The guy from Twin Peaks was deplorable and inconsistent. Getting angry over things such as the daughter not telling him the title of a book she is reading but remaining calm when Angela leaves his daughter at school for 5 hours. The script is all over the place and I cannot believe I watched the entire thing. Horrible. Horrible.

Utter nonsense

[bgmagic22 · 1/10 · 15 August 2020]

Boring characters with no chemistry saying & doing a bunch of boring things with no rhyme or reason. No character development, background, nothing to help the viewer care or want to make sense of this. I gave it 1 star because the bland script & dialogue actually helped me fall asleep. Do yourself a favor, skip this!

This is a movie that you want a demon to jump into the child

[draftdubya · 1/10 · 24 January 2020]

I hate those types of child demon movies, but this is one that you wish it would happen. It's boring and you just want the two adults to die horribly. A better ending would've been the little girl calling her real mom to pick her up at night. Wait till these crazy people to go to sleep and light both of them on fire. The the next scene would be her real mom picking her up, while the two goofballs burn alive.

Slow paced and boring

[rodkjaer · 2/10 · 10 March 2021]

So many unanswered questions.. all I saw in this picture was a nutcase woman, with no answers to why she acts like she does.. Painting the house over and over.. Sigh. Ends up killing her unborn child aswell as her husbonds, while throughout the movie mentally tortures her husbonds daughter.. Why?

Drags and Drags

[mjazzguitar-800-18970 · 5/10 · 29 April 2020]

This okay but nothing to write home about. It just drags on and on, it doesn't really hook you so that you want to see what happens next. Talk about Debbie Downers, the depressed wife is enough to bring anybody down, even the viewers. It's so slow and there is so little character development that you don't care that much what happens. Pass this by unless you want to nod out.

Not bad at all, but slow slow slow until the end

[jamespurcell-17815 · 6/10 · 4 December 2020]

This movie warms you up for quite a lot of it's run time. It's a good warm up, but it's slow. I think this is absolutely worth your time if you are someone who watches a lot of movies. I'm glad I watched this one. Check out my other reviews to see if your taste jives with mine.

Recommended.

Not much of a story to moody eerie music

[gustheaffen · 5/10 · 21 August 2019]

Unfortunately we don't really know any of the background to the main character. They mention her going off some basic SSRI medication nothing that would be prescribed for someone completely off the rails. Could see a wealthy older man marrying a younger woman to care for the kid and be a companion after his wife smartly fled. The daughter was great and gave a very haunting performance. The main character just didn't do it for me. Her tattoo on her shoulder was a hideous distraction and I have a hard time buying her mental illness spiral. Husband was unsympathetic and his demise was expected. The music was overwhelming and used too much for effect. Overall a watchable but pretty average story.

Be careful who you bring home to meet your kids!!

[nightwatch4773 · 8/10 · 2 February 2019]

I can't believe nobody has reviewed this film yet so I decided to chime in...It's been 3 years since my last review so you know we have something special. Wow!!! This film will strip the emotions off you and give you five across the eyes while doing it. It's one of those rare films that captures drama and horror together and inserts the rigors of these two aspects right smack in your face. The acting was quite good and the setting perfectly ominous and haunting. Does anyone remember Colleen Porch in the 2008 horror gem Baby Blues? Caitlyn Folley's performance is tantamount to that. She is the last person I want to bump into. Anyway, no spoilers here. Watch and be amazed. Also check out CrypticRock's Jeannie Blue review of the film. I agree with her a solid 4 out of 5

Going insane

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 3 January 2021]

Age gaps in relationships ... not uncommon I reckon. And just one of the many themes this movie takes under a microscope. Sometimes things happen and if you can't or won't talk about them, there is a fair chance of you going insane. Certain fruits or other things may help you get the taste of insanity too.

But it is not just that age gap, a previous relationship or a step daughter. Though the last part may very well be a large part of our main character losing her marbles as they say. I don't want to boil it down to "woman wants her own kid", because that is also not just it (if it even is something you can see in here).

So as you can see the movie might be way more complex in its themes and what it sets out to do. As many would argue though it is flawed and it does not always achieve or convey any of those themes to the viewer in a proper manner. You have to have love for the independent movie - the low budget kind that is very weird too. Because this is what you get here. Not great, bur far from bad too. An interesting dive into human psyche with quite the appalling ending (in a good or bad way you ask? Well I can't really answer that a certain way - because bad might be good or at least interesting even if devastating ... while good might be bad and pulling punches ...)

Confused about the he vs. she

[Janecasler · 2/10 · 1 September 2019]

I was expecting this film to explore the male/female dialectic. What caught me was the story of a fragile woman under the thrall of an older "controlling" man. So, the sex in their relationship I could relate to, great for him, endurable for her. But it seems that she forbade him a true sexual and loving union in bed. I did not see him as the villain there or, frankly anywhere else. He persevered in trying to understand what was going on with her. If she was to portray what women should be, shoot...thinking this movie was a male, pretending to be, enlightened.

Could not have been any worse.

[digger-06358 · 2/10 · 10 July 2022]

This movie is well beyond bad. Lousy acting, lousy script, very thin story, a snails pace and not much character development other than a couple of scenes. By the end I wanted everyone to die just to add something to the story. There is nothing positive I can think of to give anyone hope that they might enjoy this. Believe me, you can and should find something else to watch.

Restraint in the lead performance...

[dmsesquire · 7/10 · 17 August 2021]

The impossibly beautiful Caitlyn Folley delivers a knockout performance as the new bride of a dominant older man who has a young daughter from a previous marriage: We never really find out what happened to his ex-wife, but it doesn't really matter; We're more interested in what's going to happen to his current wife. Suspense abounds, and Folley portrays a depressive better than anyone since Annette Bening in IN DREAMS: She is mesmerizing to watch from the first frame to the last.

Nutso

[imtoxic · 8/10 · 27 August 2019]

She's crazy. Bottom line. This movie had me hooked from the first few screens. You shouldn't skip this one.