This highly acclaimed film comes with accolades from Sundance, Seattle International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival. The lead actress, Jennifer Lawrence ("The Burning Plain") has been praised by every review I've read. Given the plot overview in the SIFF catalog, I skipped this one. Now that I have read all the glowing reports and been urged by friends, I gave in today.
Everything I try to avoid is in this film:
- Poverty: the teenage daughter is tending her younger siblings while the mother seems to be in the grips of some sort of dementia.
- Drugs: although that part went completely by me; in fact, if I hadn't read about the meth labs in other reviews, I would never have known. I missed that part of the plot because I couldn't make out the dialogue.
- Victims: our girl works hard under primitive conditions, but is rejected, beaten, has a tooth knocked out and is threatened with eviction because her father put up their property as collateral when he posted bail and disappeared.
- Dreariness: there is never a smile, the bleak weather is cold, overcast, or rainy and the interiors of homes, bars, barns, etc., are cluttered and soiled.
- Horror: by the time that hateful old crone fired up the chainsaw, I was ready to bail.
I'm sure this is an artistic triumph and for those of you who appreciate this sort of artistry, please be my guest.
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