I had three movies available to watch, Mr. Holmes, Interstellar and Back Roads, of the three the only one I did not know was the last, and since I only have 3 movies left to reach my 100th review under the current format I decided to first see those about which I have less expectation. For that reason today I saw Back Roads, how it was? continue reading.

Source <<

Year: 2018 Category: Drama. Director: Alex Pettyfer.
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Jennifer Morrison, Nicola Peltz, Chiara Aurelia, Hala Finley, June Carry, Robert Patrick, Juliette Lewis.

Plot

Based on the Oprah’s Book Club selection and New York Times bestselling novel by Tawni O’Dell, Back Roads, explores the impact that violence has on the family and the harsh situation to which its members are subjected, showing how a young man should bear the burden of taking responsibility for his 3 younger sisters after his mother murders his father.

Opinion

I started to see this film without knowing what I was going to see, I did not know I would see a drama, I thought I was going to see a thriller, which is fun considering that I write reviews. But well, once the film started I had to see how slowly the story was developing and the events happening.

The film begins with a scene that in the chronology of the events is located near the end, to then immediately jump at the beginning of the story, which tells the viewer how the whole affair will end from the beginning, however, the film does not seem play with that initial scene, that is, the director places that scene there, but as soon as the story returns to its natural course, completely forget that scene, and although it could play an important role, in my particular case it did not.

The story that we find in this film talks about how Harley Altmyer, a young man, has an big emotional, sentimental and economic responsibility on his shoulders after having grown up in a conflictive family, which leads him to get two jobs to support the house and take care of his three younger sisters, who have remained under his legal guardianship after his mother murdered his father.

Without any support other than some visits from his uncle Mike, who is distant, and who really does not get too involved in the situation, Harley slowly begins to break internally, feels that he has received without deserving it more responsibilities of that he can assume. And although he can keep his two little sisters under moderate control, Amber, the eldest of them, is almost completely out of his control, having a rebellious personality and complex personal problems just like him. Not to mention the secrets that each member of the family keeps for himself to the detriment of Harley.

Harley seeks refuge with a state service psychologist, and also establishes a relationship with one of his neighbors, Callie Mercer, who is much older than him, without mentioning that she is married and with children, so everything gets even more complicated.

Thus, what we see in the film is the emotional and sentimental journey of Harley, who is highly affected not only by the difficult situation he faces, but also by a painful past.

The director's work is done by Alex Pettyfer, who is also in charge of starring in the film, playing the character of Harley, and is successful in his role as director, doing an acceptable job, although nothing too complex or elaborate, but simple, as a good interpretation too. Nicola Peltz did her job well too, is convincing in some moments of the film, and manages to convey the sentimental and emotional confusion of her character. Jennifer Morrison does a good job, acceptable, and enough to convince us of what we see. The rest of the cast is fine too although their characters do not receive proper development.

Personally I consider it a film that can be seen, it is a drama that is mainly based on exploiting the strong emotions about this type of tragic cases that we can find in real life, and although the audiovisual language does not get the most out of a story like this, the story alone has its merit, and that accompanied by decent performances, it's worth it.

Trailer

Score

7/10

Excellent script, good acting, acceptable direction, the film is a slap in the face, trying to highlight, with moderate success, the price that some have to pay for being born in certain families, trying to portray a reality that many times is not known.