User reviews

Don't understand the critic's poor rating. Is it because it's a heart warming film without the violence, and the special effects that seem to drive most movies nowadays? I'm a fan of TCM and this film could easily be one from the 50's because it has that sense of family, faith and neighborly theme with a mystery that keeps you entertained. It's a good family movie and well worth your time.

I decided to watch this film on Netflix only because it had Rachel Bronhahan in it, who I love. I knew nothing about the plot prior to viewing. At the end I was left wanting more. It has all the ingredients: love, compassion; community, spirituality, humanness, but they never come together to create a satisfying narrative. It is a difficult movie to figure out, maybe that is what the writer intended. Who knows. The movie to me is like a downhill racer who has the best skis, the best boots, the best poles, the best goggles and the best intentions, but still can only come in 6th.

No the acting wasn't perfect & it was a little slow but the movie was just a lovely story! I cried when the kids were singing. Gorgeous song & they did such a great job. It's definitely worth watching.

I like Rachel Brosnahan, here she plays Wren, a mysterious young lady who moves into the quiet suburban neighborhood (filmed in White Plains, NY). Right away she starts to get a sack full of mail seemingly every day. When a very nosy neighbor insinuates herself into the above-garage apartment and asks what Wren will do with them she replies simply "Read them."

The overly nosy neighbor is played by Mary Beth Hurt still going strong in her 70s. But her character is hard to take and especially when she criminally steals a stack of unopened mail to read some of the letters.

The name Wren is not trivial, along with her arrival are some rare bird sighting, in one case a bird which should not ever be seen there. There is a scene where some of the letters, rolled into scrolls, seem to turn into birds that fly away. But we never really find out where the letters come from or what they are really about. Brosnahan is good in the role but the story is so obscure that the movie's message, if there is one, is lost on me.

I enjoyed the movie on a certain level, even though the neighbors are often cartoonish, but overall can't give it a high rating. I watched it on Amazon streaming, my wife skipped.

An additional thought, days later: Maybe she represented some sort of spirit, maybe the "letters" were actually prayers, and her role was to answer them or turn them into something positive. If so I still don't get the significance of them turning into birds. Or why she hid from the policeman. Or why the writer made the movie so difficult to understand.

The musical score was nice and the script cloyingly fanciful. The acting was steady and the script descriptive.

I was with this movie all the way to the end, and then it was over, and I am in the crowd of those who said, "huh?" OK, maybe the explanation of what happened is pretty simple (won't give it away). But I felt like there was more than one intriguing plot development that was never resolved. Like Sheldon Cooper, I like my stories tied up in neat packages.

That notwithstanding, this quirky neighborhood with its endearing oddballs merits a 7/10. And I am also in the crowd of people who love Rachel Brosnahan. Loved the work she did in "House of Cards", love her lots in "Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," and she is lovely in this film as well.

I'm at a loss for words on what to say about this movie. I kept waiting & waiting for an "ah ha" moment... all the way to the end. And it never came.

I do not understand the low rating for this movie. It may seem slow at first, but because the acting and action is rather slow - quite peaceful - perhaps it doesn't suit the modern aesthetic.

However, that being said, it is a simple, beautifully written and acted story based on prayers and angels. But not your usual angels or prayers, a totally real and significant modern take. Perhaps the modern mentality cannot abide such a concept , but for those who can, this movie is a very good experience.

So I didn't know what to expect with this movie but it surpassed even that. I mean it meanders through the lives of several people and you learn little bits of info about them along the path. The reveal is amazing and honestly left me wanting to write a letter ... to myself.

Please see this movie and have no preconceived ideas - just relax and enjoy the journey.

I'd like to start off by saying that my modern mentality can infact abide by such a concept as this movie, however, this movie isn't above my head, it's just boring. What it was aiming for is sweet, I get it. The acting is good, production value good all those things decent... It's the writing that missed it's mark. They had so many chances to really delve into each of the storylines in this movie and give you a truly original and sweet movie, but didn't. Instead they save the whole idea for the last few minutes and give you 20 seconds of explanation??? What you end up with is an entire movie where your sitting there asking what's going on? Why am I watching these people's lives like this? Huh??? You only get half stories of each of the characters, if that, but are expected to care deeply about what happens to them?? Pointless. It's all pointless. To many questions left unanswered. I guess if you enjoy a quiet, story-less, random hour+ spent watching something like this go for it. Wish they had actually told the story they had to tell.

This was an excellent movie- yes the acting seems off and it was a bit slow and odd- but in the end you understand the beauty of it all and everything about the slowness makes sense. We need to slow as humans - we need to see the beauty around and be grateful - this film is something magical, something holy in a sense. Thank you to all the Made it. It touched my soul for good- well done!!! Beautiful

In this world of over the top, over-hyped movies, this was a sweet, nice change of pace movie. I cared for these characters. True a lot of questions were left unanswered, but sometimes leaving things up to us to decide what happened isn't a bad thing.

I happened up on this movie just b/c I like Rachel Brosnahan - - and in the end, was glad I watched it b/c all the performances were well done and mostly understated.

A relaxing/soothing hour and a half.

I just didn't get it, and I wanted too. Great cast. Pretty scenes. Beautiful soundtrack. Just didn't get it, and felt frustrated at the end.

I may be dense, but I couldn't figure any of this movie out. Nicely acted, but what on earth was it supposed to be about? Spiritual? Don't know.

It's a quiet neighborhood with older residents; the Lemkes (M. Emmet Walsh, Olympia Dukakis) and the Bayberrys (Mary Beth Hurt, Peter Gerety). Moody (Aidan Quinn) is a cop. Donna (Macy Gray) is a music teacher. Everybody is fascinated when mysterious Wren (Rachel Brosnahan) moves in. She gets lots of letters for unknown reasons. There is bird watching.

There are some great veteran actors. I figured that I would check this out for Brosnahan. She's really doing the quiet mysterious type here. The movie is doing a lot of quiet mysterious setup. The writer and the director seems to be veteran on movie sets who are trying to expand their work. They need one of them to be a veteran of her job to fulfill their vision. They have something here although it's somewhat scattered. They just need a bit of help to create the needed magical surrealism and tie it all together.

Great cast; good acting; cinematography good; story line confusing as hell; dangling and irrelevant sub-plots all over the place. Feels like a college video class project that earned a C. Oh, also, a 30 minute plot expanded to feature-length.

A gorgeous movie, subtle, light and poetic. A delight to see something so refined and wise in our over-thinking modern world. Spiritual, and thankfully not creepily religious like so many potentially lovely movies from USA.

Guess it was just too deep for me. I wish I hadn't stayed with it. Whatever I thought was going to happen, didn't.

As He watches even the least of sparrows, He is hearing our prayers and heart cries. Beautifully written, acted and scored.

It was a pleasant movie, but too disjointed and too many loose ends. It also swung between heavy-handed messaging and trailing off without clearly giving a clear message

The movie goes seemingly nowhere; it just meanders around in set-up and nibbles at the edges of a story. This is what happens when you violate the prime directive of not having a clear Intention and Obstacle. Screenwriting students should watch this as an example of what not to do.

By far one of the worst, most boring movies I've seen. Meaningless scenes go on and on. And it all ends with a far fetched fairly tale-like twist.

Such a well made film. Albeit more of an independent from than mainstream. If you don't like that type of film, you likely won't enjoy and appreciate this. The characters are well written. Actors did a fine job.