The previews and reviews for this film had me expecting a thriller with a woman and her young daughter on the run from someone. Indeed, the film starts out in that fashion, however as the story evolves you realize the mystery is more complex and this film is not your traditional chase movie.
The backstory isn't really explained in detail until nearly the last 20 minutes of the film, but perplexing inconsistencies in some of the story sequences will lead most viewers to start piecing together the dark interaction between Dawn and her daughter. Having figured this out, the director keeps you hooked by keeping the reason for Dawn's flight hidden from viewers until nearly the very end.
In one sense this is a compelling enough reason to watch the film through to the end, which is obviously what the director intended. The disappointment though, is that in many instances I found the behavior exhibited by various characters including Dawn to be unrealistic. In just one example, Dawn has a sexual episode that given all of the circumstances, struck me as totally improbable. This use of artistic license may appeal to some, but if at the end of the day you are sitting there thinking, "well that would never happen," then it spoils the story at least for me.
The backstory isn't really explained in detail until nearly the last 20 minutes of the film, but perplexing inconsistencies in some of the story sequences will lead most viewers to start piecing together the dark interaction between Dawn and her daughter. Having figured this out, the director keeps you hooked by keeping the reason for Dawn's flight hidden from viewers until nearly the very end.
In one sense this is a compelling enough reason to watch the film through to the end, which is obviously what the director intended. The disappointment though, is that in many instances I found the behavior exhibited by various characters including Dawn to be unrealistic. In just one example, Dawn has a sexual episode that given all of the circumstances, struck me as totally improbable. This use of artistic license may appeal to some, but if at the end of the day you are sitting there thinking, "well that would never happen," then it spoils the story at least for me.