User Reviews

I watched this on hulu because the description was interesting. A person with dementia being mistreated, but they can't trust their own memory,, and people around them don't believe them.

Thats the description on hulu. The actual movie was much different and convoluted. the throwing in of the "big reveal" at the end was frankly stupid and unnecessary. I think having the movie be everything it was, minus the part about George having done... something? to the nurses mother (its not really clear what it is that he does, implications of rape/murder though) in my opinion it would have been more effective as a horror movie if the nurse was just a sadist looking for someone helpless to torment, than it is with the nurse having some sort of revenge plan.

And in order for the nurses plan to work, she relies very heavily on things just... falling into place. -How did she know he had dementia? Stokes don't always cause dementia -How did she know the son wouldn't check in with the hospital about her before hiring her? -Why was it not suspicious to the son that she was able to just, immediately move in with him -How did she know they wouldn't check the medication she was giving him? -George asked repeatedly for the nurse to be removed from his home, how did she know the son wouldn't just fire her

The granddaughter seemed to be the one with dementia honestly. -She did nothing after finding a rotting human head in the nurses belongings -She did nothing after she found out the nurse wasn't actually a nurse -Despite taking his medication, she doesn't notice the nurse is giving George random medication -After hearing her grandfather, who up until this point she thought had dementia so severe he killed his own cat, vaguely describe an incident she has no context for, she, without even allowing him to explain, decides its better to let him die

All in all this movie was alright. The idea was good, but unfortunately it fell short, because of unnecessary plot twists, and the assumption no one who watched it would think about it for too long.

I didn't exactly have high hopes for this movie, but I figured I'd give it a shot anyway considering that the premise seemed interesting. Mental illness, and especially dementia, is something that I have always found to be fascinating, humbling, yet terrifying. I figured that the plot would be the standard sequence for these kinds of movies (introduce seemingly normal antagonist, antagonist slowly starts becoming creepy, no one believes protagonist that antagonist is nuckin' futs, antagonist becomes full fledged psycho, climax, resolution) and I was right to a certain extent. Or at least I think so.

Throughout the movie, we get clued in that George was a very violent father/person and that he isn't exactly the kind of main character you'd want to side with. The nurse, Michelle, is obviously deranged and her behavior gets progressively more and more unnerving (albeit pretty unrealistic e.g. ripping the head off a Barbie doll at the check out of what looks like a hardware store. Why are Barbies being sold at Ace Hardware? And if she can keep up the facade of being a real nurse in front of her target's family, why can't she keep her cool at the shop's check out line?). However, we're told that she is avenging her mother, whom George killed when she was six years old. At least that's what I think happened. So who to root for? Well you'll never really find out.

At the peak of the climax, you can't hear anything aside from the ambiance music. Seriously. You can catch a few of the characters' hushed voices, but they may as well be reciting a recipe for apple pie and we'd be none the wiser. It's a real shame too, because this is the point in the movie when we're told what the characters' motives are. Michelle reveals what George did to her mother and why she's been tracking him down, and George tells us what he did to Michelle's mother and why. But I guess we'll never know. I'd really like to ask the producers and the sound editor what the hell they were in a rush for when they worked on the last scene of this movie and why they didn't bother checking the levels before deciding that was going to be the final cut. It's really frustrating, too, because Shelley, who had been growing fond of her grandfather throughout the movie, all of a sudden doesn't want anything to do with him. She even takes his pills from him as he crawls towards them, and when her father appears out of nowhere and tells her to call an ambulance, she lies and tells him that she already has and leaves her grandfather to die. How she finds out what he did, I'm not really sure. One minute she was is bound and gagged with duct tape in what looks like the laundry room, the next she is standing over her grandfather, somehow having been there long enough to have heard his and the nurse's exchange. And the movie ends there. We don't find out if either George or Michelle survived, or if there's ever any justice served, or even a hint at what was drowned out by poor sound editing. Nada. Complete waste of film.

Don't bother with this movie. Honestly. It's a real shame too because Gene Jones does a great job playing an interesting character (veteran war hero with some serious skeletons in his closet who wants to change and be part of his son's and granddaughter's lives). The rest of the acting is pretty meh IMO. The father/daughter relationship between Peter Cilella and Hassie Harrison seems more like they're ex lovers or couple going through a rough patch. Definitely didn't feel like a father and his child when they were interacting. And Kristina Kleb's acting was alright, but just wasn't convincing enough for me. At least not for the way the film was written (which by the way also leaves way too many loose ends on top of the mystery ending caused by poor sound editing).

Overall, skip this one. You aren't missing anything but frustration.

I had high hopes for this one, based on the casting alone. Gene Jones was pretty terrific in Ti West's so-so "The Sacrament," and Kristina Klebe knocked a small but vital role out of the park in Zack Parker's stark and disturbing "Proxy".

Jones plays a Vietnam Vet who's had a stroke and Klebe is the home health care nurse assigned to his case. But it's painfully obvious that this nurse has a special fascination with, well, pain, as in seeing it inflicted.

The concept of a helpless person being tormented by a sinister "care giver" is not exactly a new one. By itself, it's squirm-inducing and one of the best examples I remember seeing is the Spanish 1986 thriller In a Glass Cage about a paralyzed Nazi pedophile tortured by one of his former victims. These films aren't pleasant to sit through, in general, so they require a pretty damn good story and good performances to chew on.

It's a shame that DP Mike Testin's first directorial outing has such a clunker of a script (written by Meredith Berg - whose only others credits are a short and "Lana Steele: Makeup Spy"). It takes no brains at all to figure out who Nurse Michelle (Klebe) is, why she's at George's house and even how she found him --- all in about 20 minutes. There is virtually no suspense or any tension for the rest of the film.

While Jones gives the role his all, and is very convincing playing a basically unlikable character (in all fairness, I did admire how the script never backed down and soft-pedaled his PTSD raging), Klebe's performance is so unhinged and over-the-top (she twists the head off a Barbie in a check-out line, if you can believe that --- why not just hang a sign around her neck with a prescription for Thorazine attached?) that it borders on comic. I really don't think she had much to play. If so, it wasn't apparent from what got to the screen.

What is obviously in Berg's resume is the Nancy Drew style sleuthing that George's granddaughter Shelby (Hassie Harrison) gets up to, but this isn't handled with any suspense or flair either. It's very TV- like in pace and dialog. Harrison does well, but she isn't given much depth to portray either.

The lack of suspense is really what kills this one. Mark it Do Not Resuscitate and move on.

Note: For a far more realistic horror film on the realities of living with Dementia, see "The Sideways Light". No plot gimmicks or SFX apply here. The truth is horrific enough.

Spoilers ahead.

I must agree with the other two reviewers. The revenge flick is extremely predictable from the start and generally gives you a TV- movie vibe. The acting was okay, but the ending was underwhelming as was the lack of character development for Michelle. No background story whatsoever.

Her lead was basically a freaking tattoo on Jones' hand. How did she find him from that tattoo? From an obscure newspaper clipping in her motel room? Her character is basically: here's an unhinged woman who witnessed her mother's murder when she was young; she hates dolls and cats. Oh, and she kills.

And what was the sound editor thinking? You can barely hear what Jones is saying during the struggle between him and Michelle. The music was far too loud.

I wish I could talk to the writer and director. Why would you have the music so loud at the ending during exciting parts to the point you cannot hear the actors . The dialog is being washed out by ridiculous music. (2) what in the world is the little girl doing? what was she ditching school? nobody knew she was home?? she's 6?? where did she come from? it makes no sense what she just appeared Then disappeared after? ,no cop investigation ? no questioning? trust I love movies I get suspense I get not adding certain things but really??? unreal story could of been decent it was killed by the little girl that I guess just appeared

What a terrible show! I'd give it negative stars if I could. Why in the world did they drown out the ending of the movie? Why does the grand daughter turn so quickly on her grandfather? Why did the villian of the show all of a sudden become the heroine/victim after she killed the cat and Sam? Whoever wrote and produced this missed the boat! I can't say "failure" enough! Big disappointment and waste of time!

The movie definitely starts out strong. Dementia is one of the scariest realities to me and adding the twist of Vietnam POW PTSD makes it pretty heavy.

They did a good job of setting up the movie and introducing the characters in a fluid way. The acting was pretty great all around except for the son. His performance was just so flat. Another reviewer mentioned that this movie felt TV like, which I agree with, and the son's performance was one of those elements. The contrast of his performance against the others made it even more obvious.

I also thought she would be gaslighting him more into questioning reality therefore making us question it and not really knowing if perhaps we were stuck in his delusion as well. Instead it's pretty obvious from the beginning that she's messing with him and has nefarious intentions. Her composure split half way through was pretty bizarre too. I also saw this mentioned in other reviews, but the whole doll thing in the store was such kinda cringey. These are more of the TV movie-like vibes it was giving off. She had been playing this kind of eerie but somewhat normal character and then she just loses it and can't contain her creepiness for the rest of the movie. It wasn't terrible, just felt kinda awkward.

The Vietnam flashbacks were pretty visceral. They didn't show too much, but enough to make you understand the horror he must've experienced. The pacing was good. There wasn't really any lulls. 90 minute movies are more refreshing these days. It feels like less of an investment, and it was enough to tell the story without going too far off the rails.

Lastly, a few thoughts on the ending.

No clue how his granddaughter inexplicably freed herself from being gagged and bound. It almost seems like they edited a scene out. When she showed up to the house you're thinking ok so either she'll save him or he'll save her? Perhaps he can attempt to redeem himself by sacrificing himself for her? I don't know. Instead he is confronted with his horrible crime and he just does this about-face into a sadistic monster who seems to revel in the horrible things he did to this widow in front of her daughter. He wasn't even taken aback with this new information that this little girl watched him murder her mother? The entire movie we're kind of led to believe that this broken person who ended up being an alcoholic monster that did terrible things is now coming to terms with how horrible he was and is looking for an ounce of redemption in his final days only to find out he never really changed and it seems like he's still that sadistic monster even without the alcohol. And then it seems the only reason his granddaughter was there was to be the witness and I suppose ultimately bring him to justice by letting him die? Was the timely entrance of the son explained? Did he even notice the nurse shot dead on the floor? I mean, it definitely wasn't the ending I expected. I suppose you could call it a twist, but not really the kind of twist that makes you think. More like a "oh, ok" kind of twist.

I can't see myself watching it again, but it had its memorable moments.