it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Overall a good drama about a shy teenage boy who feels disconnected from the people around him. The slow pace of this film builds suspense and mystery, using themes of voyeurism and urban myths.Some people seemed confused about the ending. I think the narration at the beginning and end of the film, is just the thoughts of a typical neighbourhood gossip. Like when you don't know what happens in "that" house down the road you add these little ideas together...but truth is often stranger than fiction.Like most of the reviewers here, I felt that the ending was a bit of a letdown. Most of the film is slow and atmospheric (with great cinematography) which makes the ending seem rushed.

Very nicely assembled by the director, Dean O'Flaherty. Misses being gripping because of the script by writer, Dean O'Flaherty.In its sluggishness, it's slightly weird suburbanites, its focus on a taciturn young boy with his ever-ready camera, and its terrifying secrets -- all leading to violence that erupts in blood -- it reminds me a little of "American Beauty," but without the sometimes sly wit. It also is reminiscent of the superior "Lantana," another Australian film about a missing person but filled with the self confidence that the crew and cast have when they know they're making a thoughtful movie.A girl disappears. She may have run away but Suzy, with her long blond tresses and unlimbered limbs, convinces the puppy-eyed fourteen-year-old Danny that she's been abducted by a serial murder who lives down the block in house number 46. Suzy uses her plentiful wiles to coax Danny into poking around number 46.What Danny finds is a woman who is afraid to leave the house. Her husband would do "something dangerous" if she left or if she were seen talking to Danny on the doorstep.The neighborhood is pustular with mysteries. Nobody is really happy. But nobody seems willing to talk about the source of that unhappiness.The bloodshed comes just before the secrets are revealed. What I mean is -- it's all secrecy and innuendo until the last ten minutes, then, as in an Agatha Christie story, all is suddenly revealed. It's all over in a twinkling. And while some of what is revealed is improbable, some other stuff is outrageous, unless it's all being made up by the narrator who takes over to give us the conclusion. There are moments when I wonder if I'm unbalanced but I'm a paragon of stability compared to these ordinary looking folk.O'Flaherty as director is fine. The tension builds slowly throughout. And he takes moments to show us some of the local Adelaide color -- mauve blossoms on a bush, a spider web, a centipede. Somehow he turns them all ominous.But I wish he'd spared us that nonsensical climax. The pieces of the plot all fall together but the pieces are too fantastic to be believed. Next time, give the guy a good script.

I was quite drawn in by the title and brief description of the movie. I watched this at home on the TV one bored night - uh, morning.With that said, I want it to be known that this movie was actually pretty captivating. The relationship between the "weird" main character(Danny) and the "alluring" girl next door(Suzy) was enough to find something odd about the way manipulation was used to find out more information about the mysterious disappearances.The climax of the film however, was a little weird. I was hoping for some dramatic reunion between the woman in the house (Jennifer) and Danny. *Call me a sucker for a happy ending* I really found a likeness towards the stepmother, but for Danny's sake, I wished the whereabouts of his real mom would've been better explained...Not just that she's dead so the woman in the house can't be her :/On one hand, I was exciting about the shrieking phone call where Danny dares to go into the villainous house with his dad's firearm to save the girl of his dreams, but at the end... well, I was left feeling sorry for the couple who just wanted to be left alone.Ugh, and don't get me started on Suzy. That chick's forehead alone could crush walnuts. (I'm sorry. I just had to add a little rant about how she was seen as being attractive.)I found the ending to be a little too calm. Most people found it confusing. I just assumed that Suzy's mom sitting in the window was the only adding to the film's creepy atmosphere. It made me think that perhaps Jennifer was trying to protect the neighborhood, the same way Suzy's mom said she would. In the film's defense, Jennifer did keep telling Danny that it wasn't safe coming to her house (which could have easily been seen as a hint towards her motherly past-life she doesn't want speak of)The only question I had in my mind was: How did the mom die? Why was she ripped out of all of her pictures? And most importantly, how did Jennifer get her charm bracelet? (seems a bit more than a coincidence)

"Beautiful" is one of those movies that can be described with style over substance. From the DVD Cover (which represents the opening scene of the movie) on you know the director is into stylish and kind of odd shots. At first I really had big hopes for this but problem with this kind of mysterious movies is that as soon as the mystery clears up and doesn't lead anywhere you are left with nothing. Exactly thats what I was left with after watching "Beautiful". The odd shots which seem quirky and fresh at first soon begin to annoy you because they just don't mean anything. You can basically see the final "twist" coming a mile away considering we are following a boy who is rather the strange outcast and his mother regularly mentioning that he is not living "in the real world". From here you get a mysterious detective story revolving around some abducted girls and a strange house with a lady constantly watching through the curtains. There are too many comparisons with cult movies like Donnie Darko (and scenes like the night views into the suburban windows and the score sure are close to it) or American Beauty which had an influence on the opening scene and the odd suburban setting. Anyway just because a movie steals visual gimmicks and obvious sound design from movies like these I don't see many similarities because the story has no grip and the storytelling is uneven and getting very stretched in the middle of the movie. The constant use of strange shots inter-cut with the plot gets a little annoying and could have been used a little more subtle. Anyway... biggest let-down like in many movies is the finale leaving too many loose ends especially about the boy and his family. Where the opening scene with the off-screen narration works fine the same element seems pretty stupid in the end. I guess its easy to make a "mysterious" movie but when the plot clears even if things are left unexplained to make the viewer think for himself... thats where a movie shows its substance. "Beautiful" left me with nothing, not caring about the characters and the unexplained parts of the story. So to compare the movie with movies like the fore-mentioned which left the viewer with many thoughts in his head is far off. Visually interesting but story-wise a disaster that has far too many lengthy moments.