The biggest issue with this movie is that it is actually two movies happening at the same time: the first movie is about three siblings dealing with a father on death row for killing their mother and the other is about a passionate romance between with two people with different life outlooks. There is a lot of great stuff in both of these movies, but when juxtaposed and edited together, despite similar tones, don’t mix. It’s weird to be jolted from horny scenes to scenes of extreme grief. Another issue is that there are different ideas and themes being spouted in both storylines is that any additional plot moment feels like too much — this is what happen with Ben’s storyline of not being able to see his father. There are moments where his character feels like the annoying little brother from an ‘80s movie just toned down a bit. The thing that holds this film together is the insanely fantastic acting by Elliot Page. When Lucy finds out the truth about everything you can see how completely and utterly decimated she is. I’ve always been a big fan of Kate Mara and she is really good in here, but the writing is so much steeped with Elliot Page’s story that he character comes off a bit flat. She immediately is giving off a “fuck me attitude” to Lucy from the first second they meet. She didn’t feel like a real person. I also didn’t buy her protesting attitude because it was a relief to her father that someone died. Mara is so great and playful with the singing and dancing scene, you fall in love with her. The great thing is she never tries to throw her point of view at Lucy to change her mind, it was in order to find out the truth and truly help Lucy grow. I really appreciated how the film downplayed the whole “different side of the tracks” trope by making it not a big deal that they are together. Mercy’s dad and Martha make one comment each, but it isn’t overly hammered in. The sex scenes feel so authentic and honest, mostly due to the nudity/variations of nudity. It is so different to watch a lesbian sex scene with directed by a lesbian director with one of the talent being LGBTQ (It could be both of them, I don’t know Kate Mara’s love life).
