Blame

It seems several people are confused by Abigail's limp that goes away. The first scene she did in the beginning of the movie, for the pregnant drama teacher, was from Tennessee Williams " The Glass Menagerie". The character she was portraying, Laura Wingfield, has a limp. She was in character.

Well, I'm blown away! I was binge-watching trailers on youtube and stumbled on this title. then I decided to go for it because, ya know, seems promising.

and all I could say now is just, wow. I can't believe the lead actress is also the director and writer and the producer herself. like, this is great stuff. and she's still so young. I'm finding myself thoroughly enjoying this movie.

really looking forward to another Shepherd works in the future.

The trailer is extremely misleading first off (.) Had this film been presented in the way it should have, it would have had a better review. Yes it's a slow burn, yes it's a coming of age film, but the content is so much more. In a digital age we are all guilty of looking for instant gratification and scandal. We sometimes forget life it's self is messy. Every love ballot or tragedy was not written by Shakespeare rather a real person desperately trying to navigate the muddy waters the surround us all.

"Blame" treads on some risky territory, but Quinn Shephard handles it with maturity and nuance far beyond her 22 years. The acting is solid from all involved. Kudos to Chris Messina for working with this young filmmaker and portraying a man who is certainly flawed, but is not evil.

Some reviewers have thrown around the word "pedophilia" and I suggest they look up the word in the dictionary. While the relationship between the teacher and the student is inappropriately close, it is mostly an emotional affair between 2 lonely souls.

A thriller disguised as a character drama. I knew very little about Blame going into it, and that was for the best -- Let it surprise you. This movie is fantastic and so supremely clever. As both a directorial and writing debut, this is a wild success, and to have it helmed by a strong performance from the director, writer, producer, and songwriter herself? Amazing. Quinn Shephard is only 22 and she's already who I wanna be when I grow up.

Every character is granted so much complexity and range without ever causing a stagnant moment in the story itself. The poster gives off the idea that these girls are being pitted against each other, and while the film initially follows that model, we soon see that these characters have far more compassion for one another than we though. Their relationships are so good, and the way they evolve is even better. I didn't expect this to be a story full of twists and turns, but as a high-school adaptation of The Crucible, it's perfectly fitting. The plants and payoffs Shephard weaves into her narrative are satisfying in the most genuine way.

There are perhaps a few moments when Shephard's attention to her character's spreads too far, and we lose sight of our protagonist, but the successes here far outweigh any slight missteps. I don't know how wide of a release this received, but if any of you are able to see this in theaters or on VOD, I strongly recommend it. I love a good high-school movie, and Blame just might be a great one.