Before the Dawn

Stumbled upon this indie gem! I love films that portray conflicted characters in complicated and unique situations. Alana de Freitas delivers an extraordinary performance by lending nuance and sympathy to Lila. I was completely sold on her attraction to Jason and their chemistry. I was impressed to discover that she also wrote and produced the film...she is definitely someone to watch and follow. Very well done film!

On the surface it's kinda a lifetime movie. Teacher has an affair with her troubled student. But this is handled with a lot of care and features a really strong lead performance by the teacher and even a bit of suspense. Extra points for the score.

It's a tough subject, especially if roles were reversed, but the acting was very good which allows you to see how these situations could happen. Overall, well done indie.

This will be very tough subject matter for those coming to it with preconceived opinions and overly judgmental attitudes. But let's be honest, these things do happen, and probably more often than we'd care to admit. Forbidden love, student-teacher relationships are doomed from the outset, and this film makes that clear in the very beginning. Performances from the two leads are sensitive and realistic, and deserving of the many awards. Give this good indie drama a good look and don't be surprised to see these actors a lot more in the future.

I had to write a review about this after reading all the 10/10 reviews already on here - now, forgive me for being cynical but I'm calling BS on the majority of them. There is absolutely no way this is a 10/10 movie, get a grip... clearly people involved in the production/ actors etc.

The storyline is so so but rather poorly done, as another reviewer stated it glamourises and romanticises a serious subject matter - which IMO is in poor taste. The actors I think do what they can but they aren't particularly engaging. Poor acting, poor writing, poor direction.

A typical TV/Prime low budget movie. Giving it a 6 is being generous.