"The Twisted Son" (a.k.a., "Thicker Than Water") was a well-scripted and well-performed melodrama. If there was a single image that ran through the film, it was fire. And the underlying theme was the destructiveness of fire.
Young Brandon Wilson was reared in an abusive household. At the time, he was known as Christopher. At the age of eight, he torched the family home, killing his parents and sister. Now, years later, we see Brandon casually playing with a cigarette lighter. He has his sights set on a new family, especially a new mother.
Andrea "Lifetime" Roth is outstanding in the role of Paige Decker, the psychologically fragile and grieving mother, who lost her boy Zach to a drug overdose a year ago. Brandon now enters her life as a renter. Consumed by neediness, Brandon will stop at nothing to win the affection of Paige.
For a while, Paige bonds with Brandon. Some of the best scenes are the connections made between the two characters whose lives have intersected at the points when they both are empty and desperate to fill a void in their souls.
One of the most interesting characters was young Addie Decker, the little spitfire of a soccer player, who gets wise to the antics of Brandon from the outset. With the assistance of her friend Kara, Addie is able to research the background of "Christopher" to discover the truth about the "weirdo" border.
Unfortunately, the film's ending was clumsily staged in the fight choreography as the ghoulish grand finale unfolded around the outdoor barbeque. But the filmmakers remained true to the major visual image that conveys the simple moral lesson: Don't play with fire!
Young Brandon Wilson was reared in an abusive household. At the time, he was known as Christopher. At the age of eight, he torched the family home, killing his parents and sister. Now, years later, we see Brandon casually playing with a cigarette lighter. He has his sights set on a new family, especially a new mother.
Andrea "Lifetime" Roth is outstanding in the role of Paige Decker, the psychologically fragile and grieving mother, who lost her boy Zach to a drug overdose a year ago. Brandon now enters her life as a renter. Consumed by neediness, Brandon will stop at nothing to win the affection of Paige.
For a while, Paige bonds with Brandon. Some of the best scenes are the connections made between the two characters whose lives have intersected at the points when they both are empty and desperate to fill a void in their souls.
One of the most interesting characters was young Addie Decker, the little spitfire of a soccer player, who gets wise to the antics of Brandon from the outset. With the assistance of her friend Kara, Addie is able to research the background of "Christopher" to discover the truth about the "weirdo" border.
Unfortunately, the film's ending was clumsily staged in the fight choreography as the ghoulish grand finale unfolded around the outdoor barbeque. But the filmmakers remained true to the major visual image that conveys the simple moral lesson: Don't play with fire!