Treading Water

This movie just felt very true to life. I liked the ending which seemed to resolve naturally without any big moments but with a lot of little moments coming together. You could tell it is an honest love story. It doesn't matter what the 'sexual orientation' of the main characters are, it still a story about love and understanding.

There were a lot of scenes that involved the family. The setting is during what for some people is a very stressful time. Namely "the holidays." Christmas to be precise.

Like most good films, this one addresses issues of love, fitting in, expectations, and can't-be-overcome biases. In the end Alexandra and Casey make a choice for each other, knowing that love is difficult, and about giving. Well done.

This movie only got one thing right: Christmas sucks. Eerything else was horribly wrong. It looked like a 3rd grader shot it and came off as extremely low budget. The acting was completely unremarkable, as was the character development. Also, it was completely unbelievable that the social worker Alex took a case when she knew the client was her lover's brother. This was a complete conflict of interest and no ethical social worker would ever do that. it just contributed even more to the stupidity of the movie and of the characters. The portrayal of a dysfunctional alcoholic, dry, new england family was very accurate however, but still not enough to give it more than one star. I can't believe this movie won awards, or that I wasted an hour and thirty-two minutes watching it. I'm writing this review to save others the trouble.

Lauren Himmel's debut movie is well directed with a nice polished feel to it. There's a strong storyline going on with a meaningful point to it all even if at the end nothing is resolved hence the name Treading Water. The storyline revolves around a Lesbian couple and their battle with ones mother for acceptance. 7.5/10

The title of the movie says it all: it's a story about staying afloat, moving and moving without really going anywhere. The love story between the two main characters is beautiful and wonderfully portrayed, their most intimate scenes very warm and credible, of course it wouldn't get the attention others lesbian themed movies got because the kind of tragedy it portrays is specific to gay people's experiences and there aren't explicit sex scenes. It's a movie about love, in its different shapes and forms, on the technical side the editing is a bit abrupt but the actors delivered well rounded performances, the soundtrack is simple enough but feels very appropriate and never overdone. The ending is true to life and I actually appreciated that they didn't destroy the love story between the two women, too many times these kind of movies seem to be written with the purpose to scold lesbians for their very existence.

Treading Water is a very beautiful movie. I would put it straight under the wonderful short movie : Cosa bella from Fiona MacKenzie. It's not only about coming out but also about tolerance and acceptance in general. I am looking forward to seeing more of Laurel Himmel's work in the future. The actors, Angie Redman and Nina Landey are quite good. The main characters relationship could have been strenghtened a bit as we understand there is a very strong bond between them but maybe this could have been explained a bit. I am surprised that Angie Redman doesn't appear much in other movies. A great first step as a director for Laurel Himmel, I am sure there's more to see from her skills.