Restraint

I hate those types of child demon movies, but this is one that you wish it would happen. It's boring and you just want the two adults to die horribly. A better ending would've been the little girl calling her real mom to pick her up at night. Wait till these crazy people to go to sleep and light both of them on fire. The the next scene would be her real mom picking her up, while the two goofballs burn alive.

Unfortunately we don't really know any of the background to the main character. They mention her going off some basic SSRI medication nothing that would be prescribed for someone completely off the rails. Could see a wealthy older man marrying a younger woman to care for the kid and be a companion after his wife smartly fled. The daughter was great and gave a very haunting performance. The main character just didn't do it for me. Her tattoo on her shoulder was a hideous distraction and I have a hard time buying her mental illness spiral. Husband was unsympathetic and his demise was expected. The music was overwhelming and used too much for effect. Overall a watchable but pretty average story.

Age gaps in relationships ... not uncommon I reckon. And just one of the many themes this movie takes under a microscope. Sometimes things happen and if you can't or won't talk about them, there is a fair chance of you going insane. Certain fruits or other things may help you get the taste of insanity too.

But it is not just that age gap, a previous relationship or a step daughter. Though the last part may very well be a large part of our main character losing her marbles as they say. I don't want to boil it down to "woman wants her own kid", because that is also not just it (if it even is something you can see in here).

So as you can see the movie might be way more complex in its themes and what it sets out to do. As many would argue though it is flawed and it does not always achieve or convey any of those themes to the viewer in a proper manner. You have to have love for the independent movie - the low budget kind that is very weird too. Because this is what you get here. Not great, bur far from bad too. An interesting dive into human psyche with quite the appalling ending (in a good or bad way you ask? Well I can't really answer that a certain way - because bad might be good or at least interesting even if devastating ... while good might be bad and pulling punches ...)

If you are expecting much from this film like a plot or entertainment then you have set your sights too high. This is an odd movie with dreary music but not odd enough to be interesting or rewatchable. Some awful older man who must have taken acting courses at the YMCA marries some dead pan younger woman who he expects to care for his odd looking young daughter who is mistreated by him and the stepmother. A lot of things are left unanswered, all you know is that the young woman is a nutcase however the older man is so distasteful along with his acting you wish she and he would be sent to na asylum. I would not recommend this movie at all nothing of note happens and the acting is pretty bad.

When I stumbled upon "Restraint" I hadn't even heard about it, nor did I know who was in it. But the movie's cover seemed interesting and it being a thriller definitely did help sell it to me.

I sat down to watch "Restraint" with no expectations. And now that it has finished, I must admit that I sit here somewhat feeling like 'was that really it?' I felt like director and writer Adam Cushman left so many unanswered questions and really didn't bring the movie full circle.

There were elements to "Restraint" that were rather interesting, just a shame that the script and storyline proved to be so slow paced, because that really deflated the rest of the movie, as it suffered from a stunted and hindered progression.

I can't claim to be familiar with the acting performances of Caitlyn Folley prior to "Restraint", but she carried this movie quite well with her performance. Just a shame that she didn't have a proper script to allow her to unfold her full potential. I don't think I've seen Dana Ashbrook in anything since the original "Twin Peaks", so it was sort of fun to watch him on the screen again.

"Restraint" was hardly an impressive movie, given the fact that the storyline served as an anchor dragging the movie down. It failed to adequately entertain me, and I must admit that my attention was failing a couple of times throughout the prolonged duration of this movie.

The storyline felt too forced and too generic, it there was no ups or downs to the movie, it just trotted on along a straight forward path with no twists or turns, which made for a less than mediocre movie experience.

Squandered potential, that is really how the movie can be summarized.