When the Bough Breaks

Don't believe the reviews that say there are many unanswered questions or plot holes. Those people obviously weren't paying attention. Everything comes together at the end. Pay special attention to the medical records that the investigator finds and reads at the closed hospital. What she reads explains everything. Also, listen to the conversation with the housekeeper. That provides the motive for the doctor/father. It's worth watching. Not Oscar worthy, but good investigative work that solves the case.

On July, 4th in Houston, a teenager finds a human hand in the sewer. Captain Swaggert (Martin Sheen) is investigating the discovery of seven hands, each one precisely severed and with a number tattooed on the palm, along many years but without any lead. The highly qualified Special Investigator Audrey Macleah (Ally Walker) is assigned to join the team and give support to the investigation. When the police department receives a call from a medical doctor in an institution, Audrey visits him and the doctor introduces the autistic boy Jordan Thomas (Tara Subkoff) to her, disclosing seven hands that the boy had drawn on the wall. Audrey dedicates her attention to Jordan and discovers that he is connected to the serial-killer.

"When the Bough Breaks" is a surprisingly solid thriller, with a well developed dark story and a good conclusion. Ally Walker has a great performance in the role of a professional with many specializations, but also with a trauma from her childhood. Tara Subkoff is also amazing with her double-role. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Assassinatos Macabros" ("Macabre Murders")

When the Bough Breaks sets an all-time record for unresolved loose ends: scars on the back, birth defects, numbers on the palms, role of the full-time ice cream clown, and on and on. Of course, there are suggestions of untold stories that parallel and bisect the story. But there's enough here to feed a decade-long TV series. (Oops. There goes my chance to make a killing on the spin-offs.)

There are signs of a heart beat in the characters of Audrey Macleah and Jordan/Jenny--but the pulse is weak.

When the severed hands of children are found in a drain after a storm, a police profiler (Ally Walker) is brought in to investigate and uncovers a link with a severely autistic boy (Tara Subkoff) who had been incarcerated since he was 4 years-old.

An indie thriller that seems to be similar to many made in the mid 1990s that followed in the wake of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1990). It does contain some good and effective suspenseful moments, but there are way too many holes in the plot and unresolved issues which will leave the viewer more confused than when they started.

Turn of the light. Sit alone. Drink a beer. Feel alone !. This movie will bring you down. This one is a thriller.

The end is not so good but in the right atmosphere this movie will not let you slip away from the tense story. "Silence of the lambs" is the best description I can give, though it never reaches this point of excellence.