This is a beautifully shot film with talented actors and a stunning backdrop. The problems come with just about everything else. Had the story been told in a linear fashion is would have bored most people to tears. The use of 'flashbacks' etc made it more interesting, but essentially this is a very simple story that is made over complicated.
My biggest problem was with David. He doesn't actually ever do anything wrong, he's just a bit 'off'. He's described as a monster and insulted by his mother constantly, but he genuinely just seems sad and lost. He craves affection and seems to get that from Amanda until he crosses a line I don't think he really understood. Neither of his parents seem interested in him and he's left to his own devices. Was it the splitting of his soul that caused it or the expectation of what splitting his soul would cause? Corolla was expecting him to be different and so he was? The whole 'Greenhouse' storyline just wasn't needed. It seemed tacked on as a reason for weirdness when really you could just have had David have a head injury. It didn't add to the 'poisoning' at all, that in and of itself was enough to be important. It was hard to feel sympathy when after the horse and child got sick that no one roped off the water, put up signs, called for change or any such thing. Other children are affected by it but no one seems to care, they just let their children be affected. It is a relevant issue as we're constantly being faced with our planet's destruction and no one seems particularly bothered. Chemicals are still dumped, pollution still happens and we all just shake our heads and move on. Is this small town a microcosm of the planet at large? And if that is the point, why bother with the 'Greenhouse' parts? They just felt like they distracted from the main themes and message that the film was trying to get across.
My biggest problem was with David. He doesn't actually ever do anything wrong, he's just a bit 'off'. He's described as a monster and insulted by his mother constantly, but he genuinely just seems sad and lost. He craves affection and seems to get that from Amanda until he crosses a line I don't think he really understood. Neither of his parents seem interested in him and he's left to his own devices. Was it the splitting of his soul that caused it or the expectation of what splitting his soul would cause? Corolla was expecting him to be different and so he was? The whole 'Greenhouse' storyline just wasn't needed. It seemed tacked on as a reason for weirdness when really you could just have had David have a head injury. It didn't add to the 'poisoning' at all, that in and of itself was enough to be important. It was hard to feel sympathy when after the horse and child got sick that no one roped off the water, put up signs, called for change or any such thing. Other children are affected by it but no one seems to care, they just let their children be affected. It is a relevant issue as we're constantly being faced with our planet's destruction and no one seems particularly bothered. Chemicals are still dumped, pollution still happens and we all just shake our heads and move on. Is this small town a microcosm of the planet at large? And if that is the point, why bother with the 'Greenhouse' parts? They just felt like they distracted from the main themes and message that the film was trying to get across.