Don't Tear Yourself Apart

Whoa. I turned this on and thought, Okay, what am I watching? It's got that (well-made) Indie Film vibe so I was curious. The tone of the score was intriguing and the lead character was darkly fierce. It sets itself up to be pretty predictable but Lord Jesus, it's anything but!

It's got that 1-yard-line U-turn sixth-sense style twist. A slower pace, tricks you into being comfortable with what is happening.

It was a slow burn, but so worth it. The standouts were the lead girl, "C" played by Chelsea Smith, whose acting is super gritty, druggy, prostituty, with a dark bite to her, across from a self-conscious overweight gas station attendant love-interest, John, who lives with his mother, played by Matt Standley. His subtlety was honestly mesmerizing.

It's Indie. Put your indie mindset on. It's shot entirely with an iPhone which, once you watch you realize is just wild. It's a harsh loud story shown in the soft quiet way, throwing out only nuanced hints. It was like the suspense-thriller version of Napoleon Dynamite in that what-am-I-watching kind of way, where the Director took a shoestring budget, baked really twisted weird interesting characters into a story you think's been told a million times, and takes you on a ride that makes you want to watch it again once you're finished now that you get it.

Good job all!

The fact this was shot on an iPhone 15 is astounding. The cinematography and lighting were so great. Some of the shots were truly spectacular and really captured the essence of the film.

The lead actress was phenomenal. Really nuanced and grounded. Major kudos to her.

The story itself was a bit slow and it wasn't clear until the last 15 minutes what the movie was about. At times the film felt like two different movies.

The writing/story structure was the weakest part of the film and could have benefited from a professional script doctor or editor. Everything else from the editing to the acting was really well done. An emotional ride.

When I heard the first few lines of dialog, I got myself ready to shut it off. I thought this is gonna be a really bad, no-budget flick. But I stuck it out. And it was not that bad after all, actually. Dialog definitely needs someone who lives in the real world to advise them (or on the other hand, someone who could make it a bit more stylish). Acting was uneven, but maybe partly due to the writing and the directing. Still, the story itself was interesting, and execution overall wasn't bad. I could *almost* see this as a vignette in a Jarmusch film, but without his humor and a bit grittier than his usual stuff. I've turned off bigger budget films than this. I may forget it by next week, but it was an entertaining watch.

TL;DR unique off beat indie that was made under harsh conditions. Not action packed. It's a film that should really be watched when in the mood for something like it.

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I vibed with this film because I like indies. This one loads up powder for a while before lighting any fuses, though. So keep that in mind if you're looking for something that keeps delivering hits throughout.

They claim this was filmed during Covid lockdowns, which is pretty wicked. It's not something I could tell when watching.

It's a unique concept for a film and the characters are interesting (some great actors mixed in this cast; some so-so). I'm being pretty chill in my criticism. I think if I was rating this film against a non-indie, it would be more like 6.5/7. Being generous here given the circumstances.

LA looks way different than usual here, so that's cool too.