The Mountain

This is a very borderline review for me. On one hand, I appreciate a lot of what the filmmakers were trying to achieve with the obviously microscopic budget they had. The script is often able to hit its mark, showcases some beautiful nature vistas and effectively shows us how a child would engage with a number of topics, including truly weighty ones.

On the other hand, this is also the film where the path of its main protagonist appears to have ultimately served to resolve the problems of other people she barely knew before then. While it appears that the filmmakers were justifiably vary of endorsing "faith healing", I'm not truly aboard with the approach they have taken instead. And as this kind of conclusion comes into focus, the script also settles for convenience over simple logic in a handful of frustrating scenes. (Walking in circles in the fog while one of them has a massive compass THEY DO NOT THINK OF USING is a particular lowlight. So is an earlier scene in the fog with bikes, which is just narmy.)

Lastly, I wish the film went for a bit more bite - for instance, examining what exactly would have driven Sam to place her faith so TOTALLY in Mount Taranaki alone, in spite of not truly belonging to that culture, and overlooking the more typical avenues (i.e. Christianity) As it is, it's a too-soft film about what is still a deeply tragic topic.