I think this movie would be hard for anyone to appreciate who hasn't "been there." My take on the film is that it is about young females and their sexuality. When they discover it. How they use it. What it means to them. Reasons we may be seeing overly sexual and lost girls, and what this can lead to. It gives you some insight into the mind of a troubled teen struggling to find her identity through sexual encounters.
They briefly intro the daughter "Lilly" and she is a wildly sexual creature. Perfect features. Always scandalously clad and very aggressive. She seemed to me be an older teenager. And even though she isn't in the majority of the movie, it is entirely about her.
Lilly, you later find out, is merely 15 but she looks and acts much older. This goes for the majority of today's young females. She has, at 15, already discovered the power of her sexuality, but she isn't quite in control of it like she may think. She has had an affair with a married school teacher and many other boys in town. She seems to be trying to fill a void within herself with sex. This same thing can also be said for many young teenagers today.
The movie explores different reasons why she may have a void to fill. Unhappily married parents who are sexually distant and estranged from each other. They sleep in separate beds. Maybe she just doesn't have a good example of what a healthy sex life or relationship should look like? Possible molestation. The dad seems weirdly controlling over her. The brother seems a little off as well as the rest of the family. Maybe she's lashing out due to over controlling parents, or maybe they have given her too much freedom with letting her dress the way she does and run around. I think that the writer doesn't want you to be able to rule out any possibilities. I think they want to leave different options open so that the movie speaks to who ever it may need to speak to. It's trying to reach you as a parent of a young female or reach you the young female yourself.
The whole movie feel bleak, hopeless, sexually awkward, and desperate. I imagine they want you to feel how young girls like "Lilly" feel while struggling with these issues. I feel that it does extremely well at this. This definitely wasn't a "feel good" movie.
When the mother "Nichole Kidman" starts to fall apart she starts acting like her daughter. These awkward sexual encounters and sexual desperation of needing to feel loved and taken care of, I feel, are a way for us to glimpse into her daughter's life without her daughter even ever being on set. I also feel that the diary Lilly leaves behind helps us get some insight into the girl as well.
Not only do you not know why exactly Lilly acts the way she does, you also do not find out what happened to Lilly. You know she left at night and got into a car. There were suspicious phone calls calling her a whore and dreamy flashes of her being gagged and sexual images. But nothing is ever concluded.
I think things are left open so you can choose whichever path you would like to an extent in this movie. Why Lilly is acting out is your choice to make. Was it molestation? Where her parents too strict and overbearing? Or where they not strict enough by letting her wear the clothes she wore? Did she not have a healthy example of what a relationship should look like? What happened to her is also up to you. Did she run away because she felt like she was "in a prison" as her diary expressed? Or did some evil doer take note of her much too skimpy clothes and kidnap her?
The movie doesn't tell you a lot, but by doing this, it says soo much. And it leaves openings for you to connect with it however you may need to. It says so much about today's young females. About their sexuality. About the things that may be steering them in the wrong direction and about how tragic these feelings really are to these girls. How lost, and empty they really feel.
They briefly intro the daughter "Lilly" and she is a wildly sexual creature. Perfect features. Always scandalously clad and very aggressive. She seemed to me be an older teenager. And even though she isn't in the majority of the movie, it is entirely about her.
Lilly, you later find out, is merely 15 but she looks and acts much older. This goes for the majority of today's young females. She has, at 15, already discovered the power of her sexuality, but she isn't quite in control of it like she may think. She has had an affair with a married school teacher and many other boys in town. She seems to be trying to fill a void within herself with sex. This same thing can also be said for many young teenagers today.
The movie explores different reasons why she may have a void to fill. Unhappily married parents who are sexually distant and estranged from each other. They sleep in separate beds. Maybe she just doesn't have a good example of what a healthy sex life or relationship should look like? Possible molestation. The dad seems weirdly controlling over her. The brother seems a little off as well as the rest of the family. Maybe she's lashing out due to over controlling parents, or maybe they have given her too much freedom with letting her dress the way she does and run around. I think that the writer doesn't want you to be able to rule out any possibilities. I think they want to leave different options open so that the movie speaks to who ever it may need to speak to. It's trying to reach you as a parent of a young female or reach you the young female yourself.
The whole movie feel bleak, hopeless, sexually awkward, and desperate. I imagine they want you to feel how young girls like "Lilly" feel while struggling with these issues. I feel that it does extremely well at this. This definitely wasn't a "feel good" movie.
When the mother "Nichole Kidman" starts to fall apart she starts acting like her daughter. These awkward sexual encounters and sexual desperation of needing to feel loved and taken care of, I feel, are a way for us to glimpse into her daughter's life without her daughter even ever being on set. I also feel that the diary Lilly leaves behind helps us get some insight into the girl as well.
Not only do you not know why exactly Lilly acts the way she does, you also do not find out what happened to Lilly. You know she left at night and got into a car. There were suspicious phone calls calling her a whore and dreamy flashes of her being gagged and sexual images. But nothing is ever concluded.
I think things are left open so you can choose whichever path you would like to an extent in this movie. Why Lilly is acting out is your choice to make. Was it molestation? Where her parents too strict and overbearing? Or where they not strict enough by letting her wear the clothes she wore? Did she not have a healthy example of what a relationship should look like? What happened to her is also up to you. Did she run away because she felt like she was "in a prison" as her diary expressed? Or did some evil doer take note of her much too skimpy clothes and kidnap her?
The movie doesn't tell you a lot, but by doing this, it says soo much. And it leaves openings for you to connect with it however you may need to. It says so much about today's young females. About their sexuality. About the things that may be steering them in the wrong direction and about how tragic these feelings really are to these girls. How lost, and empty they really feel.