8/10
Ignore the bad reviews, watch for yourself.
25 December 2011
Apparently a lot of people missed the point on this one. If you need a movie to lead you by the nose and explain every little thing, then don't watch this movie. The premise is really simple - a family, living on a farm on the outskirts of town is trying to find normality in their lives again after a tragedy. When they're visited by a man in a seersucker suit who claims his car broke down, they react predictably - the mother fears the unknown while the father wants to extend hospitality. Initially, the mother doesn't want to take a chance that her desperately normal life would be impacted by the stranger, but, after hearing his eloquent rant about Christian neighborliness in these dark times of trusting no one, she relents and allows him to spend the night. Her motives are clear - she wants to see her family through the eyes of a third party who hasn't prejudged them from their earlier bad acts. Maybe if he sees how good they are, he will spread the word in the community that has ostracized them and they will be accepted back like lost lambs from the wilderness. In order to portray this family goodness, the mother constantly harries the daughter who immediately interests the stranger. As the stranger reveals himself to be a doctor, the mother opens up to him about almost everything but what's wrong with the daughter. Of course the stranger is there to harm them for their misdeeds and quickly subdues both parents before it becomes a cat-and-mouse game between him and the daughter. More back story is revealed about the tragedy which brought the family to the farm and the stranger to their door. While being a touch predictable, it is still finely acted and the characters' motivations are crystal clear.
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