Sadly Over-hyped

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This movie is simply a mildly altered version of the Manson story. Everything that happens in the cult is almost precisely what went on with Manson. And Olsen's "mesmerizing" performance? Well she simply pouts the entire movie. So if that's your idea of brilliant acting...Worst, there is no ending. It's almost as if they ran out of budget at 4:15 PM, or their camera's hard drive filled up so they stopped.So all in all it's totally unoriginal, incomplete & ultimately uninteresting. Skip it & read Bugliosi's book instead. Or, if you want to see a truly gripping movie about being sucked in & then pulled out of a cult, watch "Ticket to Heaven".

This was an excellent psychological drama with an impressive performance by Elizabeth Olsen. She plays a young woman who escapes from a cult and stays with her sister, but still has memories of the life she left behind that interfere with her ability to reintegrate. The whole story is rather subdued, but has some moments of quiet intensity and pain. I also liked how the story of her past and her present are intercut and told side by side, with each event having a parallel in or triggering a memory of something that happened to her before. The only downside was (what I felt to be) a rather anti-climactic ending. Other than that, it was a great indie film.

Sorry, but I don't buy in to this "make up your own ending" when it comes to story telling. And after all, isn't that what a movie is? I could list a few redeeming qualities, but even if there is some good acting, or occasional glimpses of an actual story, it is all worthless if there's no plot. What this movie tries to pass off as a plot is nothing more than a partial rip off of a real life event, told with new characters. It's a story we already know. For that to be entertaining, you have to draw the viewer in to the story. Instead, we're only given glimpses here and there of past and present, and it's up to us - the viewers - to write the rest of the film in our heads. How can one score a half finished movie? You can't. Thus the ONE.

In one of the more haunting and disturbing movies I have ever watched, I am glad to say that Elizabeth can surely act. Before she plays Scarlet Witch in Avengers Age of Ultron, I had to see if she is talented. And she truly is. In this movie alone she showed range that I don't think either of the two other Olsen sisters ever brought to the big screen. This film is not for everyone, but its a well directed, acted, and written film. The way they show us her transformation back with the cult, and her ongoing struggles back with her family in seamless transitions is perfect. It kept me on the edge of my seat every time John Hawkes was on screen. Just like in 'Winters Bone' he brings this creepiness to his roles that not many people can do.But back to Olsen. She is a great talent at just the age of 24. Surely in 5-10 she, Jennifer Lawrence, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, AnnSophia Robb, and Chloe Moretz as the top of the Actress class. And I'm sure they will each eventually get their Oscar fame.More and more as her character unfolds and unravels so does Olsen. She shows how talented she can be in a Dramatic role. In Hollywood you have to be able to pull of Dramatic roles, and she will no doubt be among the greats in a few years. Sarah Paulson helped sell the family drama that goes down as well.When they are back with the cult family, it can be very uncomfortable to watch because of the lives they live. I mean when you have people trying to convince you that death is a good thing, and there are people preparing you for rape like its normal, you are bound to come out of the situation scarred.As far as the ending, I was not a fan of the movie being left on an ambiguous note. Sometimes I can accept movies leaving off without us knowing the true fate of the character, but I didn't feel like it fit this movie. This was a character that I needed to have closure with. I want to feel as though she ends up getting help with her condition. But as always I'm probably in the minority, and people don't feel the same. Endings are a big part of my ratings. I would have given it near an 8.1. But with the ending that it had I will go with 7.6/10