bsumner268-381-36581

This was a tragic tale told in a ho-hum way. Nothing about the movie was all that engaging. I mean, it is a well-made moving with quality acting, but the way the story is told is just matter of fact. I didn't really feel any emotion even though some really awful things were happening within this family. And I have just learned from reading other reviews that there was a sixth son in this family who also met a tragic end that was left out of the movie. It made me wonder, who in the world looked at the story of this family and thought, hey, I think this would make for a really entertaining movie?

I recorded this movie to my dvr a long time ago. I finally watched it tonight. I think I avoided it for so long simply because I didn't like the title. But I kept it because it has Nicole Kidman in it. If a movie has Nicole Kidman in it, I will eventually watch it. Other than the title and Nicole, though, I knew nothing about the story before I started watching. I now know that the movie was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who also directed The Lobster. I remember liking The Lobster when I saw it, but unfortunately I cannot say the same for this movie. It was hard for me to accept how everyone in the family acted so strangely because the story is set within such a normal world. Therefore it is hard to understand why someone in the position of these parents wouldn't go to the police for help. What is it about this Martin kid that allows him to make these children ill in a way that is undetectable to doctors? If he's doing it in some metaphysical or spiritual way, then there should have been some backstory on Martin to explain how he has this power. In fact, there is just so much left unexplained that it makes it hard to care about anyone or anything in the story. I watched the movie until its end to find out what happened, but I found the ending very unsatisfying as well. All in all, if you're reading this before watching, I'd say avoid this movie unless you are really into weird, disturbing movies.

I don't really know if I can reach the required number of characters for this review. All I can really think to say is that this is an excellent movie. It is very well-written, directed, and acted. It is short and succinct. It is heart-warming but doesn't go out of its way to be a tear-jerker, and it shows humanity at its best. I can see how a viewer might be disappointed if they came to this movie expecting a sci-fi thriller about an alien. However, if that is the case for you, please don't take it out on the movie by leaving a bad review. Just remember the old cliche: Don't judge a book ... or movie ... by its cover.