Coyote Lake

It isn't what I would consider a 'thriller, although it is a bit dark. It is a twisted coming of age-coming into your own-wtf have I been party to- kind of movie. Definitely a great Sunday night movie that you just want to relax, enjoy and get a little lost in. I watched this and then tried to explain the plot to my husband. That's when I realized just how extra this movie was. It has so much going on, but at the same time just flows so beautifully, that you don't even realize the amount of horrible things it is dealing with. I loved it from beginning to end.

I hadn't heard much about this film prior to watching it so didn't really have any expectations. I was surprised to find it to be a little gem of a film. The acting's good and the actors are believable in their roles. While parts of the story are a little cliched, I did find it entertaining. The relationship between mother and daughter could have been explored more deeply. It would have been nice to have some background on their situation and how they came to be there. One of the better films I've seen in a while.

If you look through the other reviews here you'll see a rash of early 10s and from then on it seems like every review swings wildly between love and extreme dislike.

If I had to guess why it would be around expectations and perhaps marketing too. This film isn't a thriller or a horror in the conventional sense. That's neither bad or good in itself, but if you were expecting a slasher film you'd be disappointed.

Instead Coyote Lake is a dark but gently paced and fairly simple story that is well written, well shot and well acted.

I would definitely recommend it, but I would also advise that the viewer goes in with as little expectations as possible to maximise the experience.

This simple and short film (only around 90mins) is very underappreciated I feel going by the general reviews and ratings I've seen.

What we have here is a standoff situation where everything has become blurred. A mother & daughter based in the US side of the Mexico/US border are taken hostage in their isolated, but everything becomes a conundrum.

The reality is that the storyline is a moral maze between who actually is the evil one, but it's not overly taxing. From the start it shows a dark side to the mother & daughter in their cabin home, whilst the hostage takers who arrive aren't exactly the tough guys they need to be.

It's quite dark, but not overly so. It keeps it simple, and doesn't need to ratchet things up. It's a tense movie, and you follow in particular the situation with the daughter as her standoff is really as much with her mother as it is with the kidnappers. She's locked into an insular world and wants more.

I thought for a simple, low budget movie, this was very well executed, and deserves credit. Feels like a theatre play transferred onto screen. The acting is wonderful and fine by all, and you will never feel bored.

Admittedly, it's one that has key moments that are sign-posted but doesn't take the easy way out. Predictable in that sense, but it's more the sum of its parts. I thought it was a really good viewing.

Deserves more respect & attention than it has been given so far in my opinion.

Lacked subtitling for the Spanish speaking dialogue, and there was a lot, which made no sense as subtitling existed for the English speaking portions so the cost to add the rest would have been minimal. A bit different take on criminal activity. Just can't trust those sweet mamas & daughters. Definitely not going swimming in that lake. The suspense is in how you think it's going to end.