Watch the trailer
Written by: Philip Gelatt
Directed by: Meko Winbush
Starring: Mia Isaac, Jessica Frances Dukes, Garret Dillahunt
Rated: TV-14
Plot
Aurora has known all her life from her mother that the superhuman abilities they have also make them dangerous. Now, Aurora will discover the truth about one fateful and fatal night.
Verdict
The story leaves a lot to be desired. While it looks nice, the story plods along until it decides to wrap any loose ends as quickly as possible with little regard to the rest of the narrative. This concludes, and all I could think was 'that's it?' The ending is completely unsatisfactory. Then again the middle isn't very exciting either.
Skip it.
Review
I had to watch it after seeing the Project Greenlight season that showed how this movie was made. I was curious what the movie is about and if the complaints on the show were fixed in the movie. I would imagine not much could be done as the movie was nearly complete in the show.
Mother Ayla (Jessica Frances Dukes) and daughter Aurora (Mia Isaac) have psychic abilities. They're hiding out as the mother teachers her daughter to control her abilities. I wasn't sure why the mom is teaching her or what she'll do with the abilities. I assume the issue is the government wanting to make them weapons or study them but that is never stated outright. The mom seems harsh, but she's probably been running for years. I'm guessing this will set her up as being overbearing only to reveal it's all for her daughter's safety.
 |
| Jessica Frances Dukes, Garret Dillahunt play Ayla, Derek |
Aurora feels trapped in her own home, and that's no surprise. It seems like she never leaves the house, but then she somehow has a friend. How did they meet with her mom's restrictions? How did they know when to meet up?
It feels like something is missing in the movie, and I don't think that's because I know too much from watching Project Greenlight. Ayla tries to prove why Aurora isn't ready to go out, and it's understandable that the kid pushes back. She just wants to be normal. Mom tells her that if you lose control of your abilities the government or whoever the antagonist is will find you would add a lot more tension and reason for the training and everything happening. We never get that. I don't know for whom the antagonist works. That would help provide context for this story.
 |
| Mia Isaac plays Aurora |
Aurora is found by the bad guys, though they don't seem that bad. It's a place that caters to psionics. We're left to assume this might be the place Ayla wanted her daughter to avoid, but we've never been given a good reason why. For a place that's built for psychics, we don't see many people there. I didn't know if that was a clue and the place is a ruse and there aren't any or if it's just a budget limitation.
Aurora ends up imprisoned and she goes through mental torture. The movie starts to drag that out and I began wondering if anything was going to happen. What's the ultimate goal? This far along we should know something. Not long after I was wondering that, the movie ends. It's like the task was to finish this thing in ten minutes or less. I really want more from the ending and from the movie. The ending is so abrupt, and it doesn't tie back to anything. It's a hurry up and finish this type of conclusion. The story wasn't even mediocre to begin with and the ending makes it even worse. All the complaints in the show were well founded.
No comments :
Post a Comment