Where's Rose

Day #2

So, this is a bit of a strange one. The ambition was there and Mathis does a great job overall but the treatment used to cover the overall theme may have been a misstep.

Hovering somewhere between a Lifetime Sunday Feature, Arthouse and Fantasy (think Guillermo del Toro) the movie is over before you can truly commit.

The flow and pacing were acceptable, and I credit Mathis for attacking such brave subject matter, however it never truly gels and one feels sated solely from the socially conscious message, getting nothing from the horror elements at all.

Also, the acting was very uneven, save for Ty Simpkins, Annaliese Judge and Skyler Elise Philpot.

5.5/10

#31DaysOfHalloween2022.

What a huge waste of time. I couldn't last longer than 20 minutes. Some of the worst acting I've ever seen. And nothing has happened yet.

This could have been shot on a phone.

It looks cheap, it feels cheap in every way.

Acting is so bad it looks like comedy sometimes. Especially the boy. Terminator has more emotions than him.

These reviews with 9s and 10s obviously are fake. One just has to watch 5 minutes to know this is not a 10 movie. If anyone thinks this is as good as the godfather then they aren't very intelligent.

I don't understand why real reviewers don't bother reviewing to help other people.

My main question after finishing this one was: What?

Seriously, I have no idea what this movie was about or how it wrapped up. It began with a simple enough plot: A little girl goes missing and when she's found, her overachieving older brother feels there's something different about the lass.

And thus ends the only part of the movie I understood. Maybe there's a lot of symbolism flying over my head here, but to my eye, they just mangled this story to a bloody, unrecognizable pulp and put haunting music over it to fool you into thinking it was a horror movie.

I'd be worried about spoiling the ending for new viewers, but truthfully, bros. I don't think I could if I tried. I honestly don't know if this was a story of madness, a creature feature, or a tender Lifetime film about the importance of family, or perhaps a cautionary tale about the trouble with killing siblings.

I thought the little girl was a fine actress. She was downright spooky at times. So there. I said something about the movie, can you just leave me alone now?

I really liked this little film. I'm quite surprised that it only has a current rating of 4.x. Yes, as others have said, the acting isn't the best, especially the mom is quite cringeworthy, as well as some of the supporting cast. But, I felt the little girl and her brother were quite good and definitely carried the movie.

What I particularly liked about it was the very engrossing sense of Mystery, where you really begin to wonder WTF is going on. Nothing seems quite right, and SOME of it is fairly clear. BUT... it is not until you get to the end that you truly understand what has been going on.

It is a nice blend of genuine Mystery, Psychological Thriller, and the Supernatural. And, I feel that the director did an excellent job at balancing everything. Again, yes, it WOULD have been nice if he could have elicited some better performances by the supporting actors, but I think overall he guided the story quite well.

Now you have to be very, VERY patient with this one, because it would be quite easy to get impatient with all the ambiguity and lack of 'Action'. If you honestly get bored really easily, then I would humbly suggest that you give this one a pass. But, to me the whole point of the story and the way it is developed, is that the audience is drawn along with a strong involving sense of 'What the hell is going to happen next?' and 'Why the hell did that happen?' And, when you do get to the end, the explanation I feel is indeed very satisfying. Because it ties together some feelings and questions that the audience may have had, but didn't quite know why (I KNOW that sounds super vague, but I don't want to give anything away : )

Anyway, IF you don't mind a really slow burn story, and you can be very patient and deal with the ambiguity of what is going on or where it is going and do not get bored easily, and if you appreciate a good Mystery with Supernatural elements, you might have a good chance of enjoying this one...

The people who know me personally or my taste & preferences in films are pretty much familiar with the fact that I often like to take my chances with low-budget independent works.

Why do I do that? Well, being an avid cinephile, I am always in search of deserving, underrated titles. At times, I do happen to stumble upon some worthy features, however, in most cases, I return empty-handed.

"Where's Rose", Unfortunately enlists itself to my latter list of disappointments.

Whilst I appreciate the story for at least trying to be innovative and bring something new (kinda) to the table; the execution, however, leaves a lot to be desired. The direction here is inefficient, the editing should have been more sharper, more articulative! The performances aren't exactly horrible, although I do feel, with a more experienced cast things could have panned out in a much better fashion.

A decent attempt nonetheless.