Darkness on the Edge of Town

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Kyle J 08/19/2024 You will not like this movie unless you deeply hate your SELF and anyone who seems happy to you. See more 09/11/2021 A screwed up girl offs her best friend's sister in the first few minutes of the film, and then she spends the rest of it helping her friend look for the killer. They kill a bunch of people. It all plays out in a town oddly devoid of people other than the main characters, no witnesses, nobody freaking out over countless gunshots. Apparently there was no budget to pay extras. Almost every main character dies, including the initial killer, by mostly meaningless violence. The only sympathetic characters are a cop and a dog. The cop dies, the dog doesn't. Spoiler, but who cares? At the end, the girl with the dead sister rides away in an empty bus with a bullet in her skull, a bandage on her head, and a bloody face. But maybe she'll get away. If somebody could get away with making this movie, anybody can get away with anything. See more jesse o 01/28/2016 Essentially, this film's story, sees Cleo, along with her best friend Robin, trying to avenge the murder of her estranged sister. The twist in the film comes in the fact that the murderer is known from the start to be Robin. That's not a spoiler, it's literally one of the first things you see. There's no secret, no mystery, no nothing. So the film plays with the concept of how Cleo goes on this search to find out who killed her sister when her killer is the closest person to her. That sounds like a good concept and the film is absolutely beautifully shot. And there are parts of the film that are really good, but the characterization left a lot to be desired, at least from Robin's point of view. Cleo isn't entirely likable, but Robin is an insufferable human being that you just wanna see die in the most horrifying way possible. And, don't get me wrong, you don't need to have likable, or even relatable, in order to be able to tell an effective story, but there's just something about the entire Robin character that I just hated. It's clear that Robin had her issues growing up with her entire family, she was sexually abused and her family did nothing, and they use that to justify her behavior. And I can kinda see that, but I think they waited too long to introduce these elements into the film and it just felt like a cheap way out to try and give this character some depth. Again, in the grand scheme of things, it actually works when you see that Robin, essentially, had nobody but Cleo while she was going through some really rough times, so it's understandable that Robin would be super overprotective of Cleo. But, again, they wait too long to introduce these elements and by the time they do you already kinda hate Robin and don't end up feeling any empathy for her. At least I didn't. Cleo's not necessarily much better than Robin, but at least there's something about her that I can empathize with. I also do think that knowing who shot Cleo's sister right from the start hurt the film. Because Cleo is going on this roundabout journey when we already know who did it. I don't wanna say it feels like a waste of time, but it feels like a shallow way to extend the film's running time. Another thing that might bother some people is how bleak and dark the film is. There's literally, and I'll say this without spoiling anything, no light at the end of the tunnel. I suppose that might give it away, but there's no specifics about what happens or how it happens. Personally, I wasn't bothered much by the tone, like at all, but I can see how some people would be. Like I said the film is quite beautifully shot and there's a certain poetic aspect to some of the shots. The narrative's pacing and Robin's characterization is the problem. Robin's and Cleo's relationship is actually really strong, easily the best part of the film. The acting is also real strong, but the film just never comes together to make a great, or even good, movie. I'm sure some will enjoy this much more than I did. It's got its moments, but those don't add up to anything. This is nothing more than an average movie. See more Read all reviews

Darkness on the Edge of Town

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