Chloe (Lexy Kolker) is a seven year old girl living with her father, Henry (Emile Hirsch), in an abandoned house. Henry appears quite disturbed and will not allow Chloe outside of the house or to even look out of the windows. However, Mr. Snowcone (Bruce Dern), the local ice cream man, is on a mission to get Chloe out into the world for his own reasons...
At first I thought I'd found my way onto yet another slow burning dud, but after the initial confusing build up, the film starts to really pick up and takes us in several new directions I hadn't been expecting.
Lexy Kolker is a fantastic little lead actress and manages to conquer some pretty tough looking scenes with an effortless ease and reality. We're completely with her the whole way through, even when we occasionally don't know what's going on. Chloe is faced with some dark situations, and some scenes cover some quite violent or morally questionable themes. It's dark, scary and quite fascinating.
Emile Hirsch is also great in the part as the slightly unhinged father. From first introduction until the final reveal we're never quite sure what his deal is and how much of it is fabricated.
I like Bruce Dern in general, but he's excellent in this part treading the line between friendly and scary with deft ease and a hint of relish. As the audience learn more about what's really going on we find ourselves understanding his character more, even if we don't like his methods.
Overall, I found the film enjoyable. I appreciate that the build up was kept consciously vague to allow the reveal to be more effective, and in I'm glad I didn't give up on it when I wasn't sure if it was going anywhere. Some of the scenes are really engaging, especially in Chloe's cupboard, but there are a few parts of the film that felt a little 'syfy TV special' and didn't quite gel as well into the overall body. On the whole, however, I would definitely watch this film again.
[Amazing Incorporated, et al]
Hani
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