"Hiding From My Husband" (aka, "Rear View Mirror") is a film with an ending that may only be described as "over the top" both literally and figuratively.
At the start of the film, Jessica ("Jess") Howard is living in abject fear of her abusive husband Peter. Jess is successful in leaving home with some cash and her young son Noah, fleeing from San Francisco to Catalina Island.
Through the assistance of her sister Rachel, Jess locates a beach home and works as a substitute teacher at the local high school. She also links up with a nice colleague named Matt. But she remains emotionally distraught and lives with the feeling that Peter may locate her at any time. The sister diagnoses Jess with PTSD.
Nearly all of the film was approached earnestly as a case study of domestic abuse. Which makes the film's bizarre ending all the more perplexing. The "over the top" effect occurs when Peter finally returns and charges like a raging bull at Jess. The problem is that they are on top of a cliff, and Jess dodges him like a matador. For Jess and the father of her child, this was a real cliffhanger!
And what are we to make of the curious line when Rachel addresses her sister as follows: "If it's not about Jordan, you don't care." For the entire film, Rachel addressed her sister as "Jess." But by referring to her with the name "Jordan," it sounded as if Rachel was now a character in a different film.
This was a decent, serious film until the weird ending. Then, things imploded, and everything went just over the top.
At the start of the film, Jessica ("Jess") Howard is living in abject fear of her abusive husband Peter. Jess is successful in leaving home with some cash and her young son Noah, fleeing from San Francisco to Catalina Island.
Through the assistance of her sister Rachel, Jess locates a beach home and works as a substitute teacher at the local high school. She also links up with a nice colleague named Matt. But she remains emotionally distraught and lives with the feeling that Peter may locate her at any time. The sister diagnoses Jess with PTSD.
Nearly all of the film was approached earnestly as a case study of domestic abuse. Which makes the film's bizarre ending all the more perplexing. The "over the top" effect occurs when Peter finally returns and charges like a raging bull at Jess. The problem is that they are on top of a cliff, and Jess dodges him like a matador. For Jess and the father of her child, this was a real cliffhanger!
And what are we to make of the curious line when Rachel addresses her sister as follows: "If it's not about Jordan, you don't care." For the entire film, Rachel addressed her sister as "Jess." But by referring to her with the name "Jordan," it sounded as if Rachel was now a character in a different film.
This was a decent, serious film until the weird ending. Then, things imploded, and everything went just over the top.
