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A Better Place

Play trailer Poster for A Better Place 1997 1h 27m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 4 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Teen boy Barret (Robert DiPatri) and his mother (Patricia DiPatri) relocate in an effort to start their lives anew after Barret's father dies. Although the transition is rough, Barret finds a friend in Ryan (Eion Bailey), an outcast who doesn't mind hanging out with the new kid at school. Ryan is prone to emotional instability, though, and when Barret is accepted by others in the student body, the jealous Ryan starts to turn on his one pal -- first with words, then with shockingly violent acts.

Critics Reviews

View All (4) Critics Reviews
Film Threat Rated: 4/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Aug 15, 2005 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 4/5 Dec 8, 2002 Full Review Michael Dequina TheMovieReport.com Pereira has made a smart and affecting film about a particularly difficult subject. Rated: 3/4 Jul 7, 2002 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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alex k My Favorite Film Is 1941's Citizen Kane. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Okay film, but the DVD is GREAT!!! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Given the budget the movie was on, this is pretty damn good. It's a great illustration of teen violence and the lone rebel being pushed off the edge. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member A true depiction of teen violence and the attitude to make another fall into anothers trap Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Having been friends with Vincent Pereira for a bit, I might be a little biased on my judgment of his film. I've tried to put that aside and be subjective, so let's hope I succeed. A Better Place isn't really the type of film you'd find in your average cinema. It's an intense and violent character study that doesn't really hold back. To me, the only thing that IS holding it back is its dialogue, at times. It's not bad, it's just hard to relate to characters who sound so similar to each other. That was my complaint with both Juno and Vulgar, but on the whole it isn't quite as bad as that. Its just that at certain moments I'm waiting for the characters to be, well, characters, with distinct personalities and ways of speaking. Maybe that's not always possible in storytelling, but I pick up on it occasionally. It doesn't affect the film too much though. I really enjoyed it on the whole and walked away from it with a nice perspective. To be succinct, it's a very solid film and definitely worth a watch. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Having been friends with Vincent Pereira for a bit, I might be a little biased on my judgment of his film. I've tried to put that aside and be subjective, so let's hope I succeed. A Better Place isn't really the type of film you'd find in your average cinema. It's an intense and violent character study that doesn't really hold back. To me, the only thing that IS holding it back is its dialogue, at times. It's not bad, it's just hard to relate to characters who sound so similar to each other. That was my complaint with both Juno and Vulgar, but on the whole it isn't quite as bad as that. Its just that at certain moments I'm waiting for the characters to be, well, characters, with distinct personalities and ways of speaking. Maybe that's not always possible in storytelling, but I pick up on it occasionally. It doesn't affect the film too much though. I really enjoyed it on the whole and walked away from it with a nice perspective. To be succinct, it's a very solid film and definitely worth a watch. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews
A Better Place

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Teen boy Barret (Robert DiPatri) and his mother (Patricia DiPatri) relocate in an effort to start their lives anew after Barret's father dies. Although the transition is rough, Barret finds a friend in Ryan (Eion Bailey), an outcast who doesn't mind hanging out with the new kid at school. Ryan is prone to emotional instability, though, and when Barret is accepted by others in the student body, the jealous Ryan starts to turn on his one pal -- first with words, then with shockingly violent acts.
Director
Vincent Pereira
Producer
Paul Finn, Scott Mosier, Kevin Smith, Vincent Pereira
Screenwriter
Vincent Pereira
Production Co
View Askew Productions
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
May 22, 2017
Runtime
1h 27m