A Thousand Little Cuts

This movie was very much Not Good. The writing was awful, the acting was not good, and the "twist" (if you can call it that) was not worth the payoff. It felt much longer than its 90 minute runtime.

Several scenes were superfluous (we didn't need to see ANY of the scenes with the psychiatrist and her husband), the scenes with the psychiatrist and the detective were redundant (three separate scenes to illustrate the same point), and the weird coaxing out the story from Anne wasn't convincing at all. Don't even get me started on the various scenes of her at work - which also added nothing to the overall plot. Genuinely confused at this 4+/5 rating.

This could have been a gripping thriller along the lines of A Perfect Murder, keeping the audience guessing until the flip at the end.

Instead, we get drawn-out scenes showing the protagonist Anne being belittled by a misogynistic boss, frustrated by a lazy co-worker who is valued more than she is, mistreated by a guy she hooks up with via a dating app, and intimidated by an aggressive neighborhood jogger. All these scenes with two-dimensional male stereotypes are interspersed with scenes featuring a psychologist who tries to get her to dig deeper into herself to discover the truth of why she's in the hospital, and scenes of her best girlfriend expounding on how she keeps her married sex life spicy.

The idea is good, and the themes of the still-existing glass ceiling and the subjugation of women are relevant. But I can't help but feel they could have been written with more depth and more connection to the actual crime that isn't revealed until the very end. Had we known more about what had happened, the other issues would have been more compelling, and perhaps the male characters wouldn't have been such shallow, cookie-cutter stereotypes.

I applaud the attempt to address the very real issue of partner abuse as it affects women in our society. I only wish it wasn't so shallow and ham-handed.

It's not a great movie, it's no Ashley Judd Morgan Freeman classic from the 90s but it's ok enough to watch, the twist at the end is a bit cliché and the getting there is a bit frustrating, some of it just makes no sense ie: no development on the jogger, just a couple random instances and blam? I don't know, it was ok enough to watch, won't be recommending it like Promising Young Woman or The Hunt, which are kinda in this genre.

I'm a bit confused about the IMDb rating which shows a 4.8. There are only 9 user reviews which would give this movie a lot better than the 4.8 IMO this movie is at least an 8-9. My reasoning behind this is it has a good cast and a well written script. It keeps your attention for the most part from beginning to end with some twists with a very unexpected one at this end. Watch this movie and you will understand what I'm talking about.

7.6 stars.

I thought based on multiple low reviews this would be a dud, however it's not. This is an acquired taste, and I am part of the demographic that enjoys this particular flavor. I am interested in psychotherapy and any movie that presents a trauma and the mystery of how it happened, solved through the process of therapy, explored through the lens of a traumatized woman, a police officer and a psychologist; so I'm all in!

The reason why I found this story to be entertaining is because it was presented effectively, and the actors are excellent. It's not boring, not low quality, it's a regular movie in the genre of mental health and abuse. It's told in a somewhat captivating manner and it works for me. I recommend you give it a chance. If you still enjoy it at 20 minutes, you might enjoy the whole film.