Although you could call this a thriller, it is very slow, and it is NOT horror, it is more of a drama/thriller/mystery, and it is very heavy on the drama. I won't talk about the plot as there are some decent twist and I do not want to ruin them. I don't mind slow movies, some people do, so I recommend not watching this if you hate slow movies it might put you to sleep, almost nothing seemingly happens in the first half, although that certainly isn't true, it is just that these things are very slight, blink and miss them kind of things, I recommend paying close attention.
The plot itself is not necessarily anything new, but I did find the execution well-done overall, and I was a little bit surprised by a few things at least, it was not 100% predictable, that is saying something. Usually when a film moves this slow, I can guess it's every move far in advance. The movie is well done on a technical level, the cinematography is beautiful, the sound is very well mixed, the music is nice and well-fitting for the most part, the script is decent enough, if not amazing, it is slightly above average, and the acting from the lead is, on the whole really good, and it has to be because she carries nearly the entire film all by herself.
Things move along at a very slow pace until the halfway mark, you are waiting and waiting to see where to plot takes you, as the synopsis of the plot tells you the first half of the film, nothing really happens, other than a few bits here and there that become highly significant later, as mentioned pay attention. I enjoyed the second half a good bit, but one thing I would have loved to have seen more of was her relationship with her friend, and co-instructor of martial arts, Sabrina. I felt that was a relationship that should have had more time spent developing, but it does not ruin the movie, it just may have made it slightly stronger.
With that said, I felt it might have been better with a little less time spent with the main character Polly alone in her house. I appreciate many of these scenes, I felt they showed a truly authentic, and non-melodramatic picture of grief. She isn't picture perfect, she looks weathered, tired, and like she has cried her eyes out. This is something most films about grief miss, the ugliness of it, when you are in heavy grief, you don't care what you look like. This, for me, is the films strongest suit. I loved that she is a martial artist, and that does come up in the movie a few times.
I do think this is a good low-budget film, but it could have been a great one had it upped it's thrills a little more, and turned the first 34 minutes into the first 20 minutes and took those are 14 minutes developing more of the relationships around her and focusing more on thrills and mystery.
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