Perfect Sisters (2014) Directed by Stanley M. Brooks

Had some high hopes and expectations for this movie but like so often, the movie mostly was a letdown.

Rather than being a tense thriller it's a based on 'true events' type of drama. Nothing wrong with that of course but this particular movie really isn't the best told one. It at times feels messy and all over the place with some of its themes. The one moment the movie is still trying to be a thriller, the other it's being more a coming of age movie and the other it expects us to feel emotionally involved with the events and characters of the movie, in a more dramatic way. It doesn't really seems to know what it wants to be and it's the reason why the movie feels a bit too messy and just doesn't ever becomes the most effective or engaging movie to watch.

The movie starts off alright. At the start, it still isn't apparent what direction the movie will be heading at, which made it a pretty good and interesting movie to watch. It had a weird kind of fantasy vibe to it, which really added to the movie its suspense and helped to set up its characters. It sort of leaves you questioning what's real and not and how far the main characters of the movie are truly going to take things. But about halfway through all of the fantasy aspects get abandoned and the movie turns into a more formulaic- and therefor also less interesting one. Some things about it still do work out of course. I for instance liked the, sort of reversed, "Mother's Boys" angle to the story but even those aspects start to fall short towards the end.

Another reason why not everything works out too well in the movie is because it's lacking a good build up to things at times. It especially does a poor job handling all of the tension during the second half of the movie and when some terrible and dramatic things happen, it really doesn't feel like anything all that terrible or dramatic as well and at times it's also hard to still care for the main characters of the movie, because of the things they do and choices they make.

it was still good to see the two young actresses Abigail Breslin and Georgie Henley in this. They are both former child stars (well, actually Breslin is still a child and so was Henley at the time of filming this movie but you know what I mean) who continue to work and get work in big pictures, while still improving their acting skills as well. Both were also pretty good to watch in this movie but do they really look like sisters? Not really of course but oh well, it never becomes anything too distracting or ever works out as anything totally unconvincing.

Not a very good, tense or engaging movie, despite its promising sounding premise and some effective and interesting themes in the story.

5/10

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