Best movie of this year hands down!

That was an excellent one.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A Masterpiece!

**SPOILERS ahead... ** This movie was well done, but not as captivating as I'd hoped it would be. The film mostly focused on Saoirse Ronan and Cynthia Nixon after the girl had been returned "home" to her family. The scenes featuring Jason Isaacs were, by far, the most interesting, but the movie showed very little of the girl's life before she returned "home." I would have liked to have seen more of life in the basement, vs life afterward, as the concept was interesting an Isaacs was brilliant, as he always is. The movie was very sad, but not for the reasons one would imagine. The mother was a complete monster and it was difficult to watch the mother daughter scenes as the movie progressed.

Leia (Saoirse Ronan) was abducted by stranger Benjamin McKay (Jason Isaacs) at the age of four. She lived in the basement believing the world had ended. After 17 years of isolation, she is reunited with her birth parents (Cynthia Nixon, David Warshofsky). She struggles to acclimate to them who are essentially strangers and even her real name Leanne. Her mother can't leave her by herself and is desperate to connect to her. The marriage is falling apart. Dr. Andrews (Rosalind Chao) is Leia's therapist.Director Nikole Beckwith strips away any flash or music. The colors are washed out. It is deliberately quiet at times. It leaves the movie feeling dead for the first half. Saoirse is able to maintain interest by her sheer presence. Leia takes a turn around the midpoint. It's a big risk and it becomes bursts of overwrought awkwardness. She needs a connection outside of the situation. The obvious comparison is Room which is more cinematic and has more "life". This is trying to walk down the same path but not as scenic. The two women produce a compelling battle but I'm not sure if it's worthwhile.

This was pretty good. Cynthia Nixon and Saoirse Ronan give strong, really raw performances here which is in part what keeps it so watchable. They play mother and daughter who have been separated for 18 years after 'Leanne' was kidnapped as a 4 year old and kept locked in a windowless basement. She is eventually reunited with her parents but of course doesn't remember them as well as having been psychologically damaged by her captor (the awesome Jason Isaacs).I found the movie intense and absorbing as well as sad, uncomfortable and even creepy -especially the ending. It's a bit slow at times as character studies tend to be and I guess along the lines of 'Room' which has a similar scenario and plot of readjusting to an unknown world.Leanne's story (or time with Ben her kidnapper) is brought to light slowly in ongoing flashbacks showing her at different ages in her room. Ben has of course been her world, her entire life for all of her formative years and she is not really capable of functioning without him, she is damaged. The story takes an interesting turn when her mother Cynthia locks her back in her childhood room and essentially trues to reprogram her. A true tragedy 11/22/15

This movie is very well acted by all of the cast. It was interesting to see how people can cope in the aftermath of someone's child being abducted, then many years later having them return and how they deal with this. Saoirse Ronan and Cynthia Nixon both have very strong parts, one is dealing with having to leave the only 'home' that she has known, having being brought up with a man who has brainwashed her with lies from a very young age, therefore knows no other truth, but also shows a caring side to her-therefore she develops a strong connection to her kidnapper, so feels as though she has been torn away from the only life she has ever known, even if it was all lies given by someone unstable. She then is taken back to her parents, who she does not know and clearly feels uncomfortable around them, this understandably is very difficult for all three of them. However, I must object to how the Mother deals with the situation completely, rather than giving her time that she obviously needs to form a connection with her parents at her own pace, her Mother basically just does the same thing the kidnapper did and tries to force a connection on her. And all due to the fact that not only does she not have the patience to allow nature to take it's course, behave selfless and be capable of putting her Daughter's feelings first, be understanding to her feelings and needs...but she also teaches her that 'love' means to lock someone you care about in a room, giving food and water on a schedule, ordering them to do things without a choice, keeping her locked away from any other people, tying a rope around her arm so she does not try to run away, therefore establishing no trust whatsoever and ultimately forcing her to create her own little escape. As difficult a situation something like this would be, no Mother should do any of those things and certainly not one who knows that she has already had that done to them. I do recommend giving this movie a watch, as they all played very well in it