KnockKnock1 This movie is a puzzler. On the second viewing, I thought it was pretty good.I don't know why that is for certain. Is it because, on first viewing, the film makes you angry about innocence stolen and snuffed out forever? This is the natural reaction you get from watching this, but the final shot makes you feel as though the makers of it disagree or were too busy being even handed, respectful to both families,that they leached the ending of it's inherent power. You'll have to see this film to find out. I will just conclude with this point. Dear filmmakers, choose a lane. This isn't one of those stories where you can "take both sides".Miranda Otto is the standout performance, but the entire Otto family is wildly talented, so unfairly, a genius acting performance is to be expected from her clan and as per usual, she doesn't disappoint. Guy Pearce is solid and the young actors in this film are uniformly excellent. A solid crime film, based on a true story that you won't soon forget.

LeonLouisRicci Beautiful and disturbing, compelling and completely engaging true-life crime story with exceptional performances by all. Not easy to enjoy as entertainment but a thoughtful expose of a loving family in crisis and the destruction of a virtually innocent, naive bystander. A missing 15 year old girl is the subject but it is her jealous acquaintance that is the focus. What finally emerges is her "righteous indignation" spun from a very disturbing, deliberate attempt to project and purge the deep demons possessing this empathetic, yet evil individual.It cannot be overstated that this is a well crafted film from a very talented filmmaker who delivers this work in such an unsuitably forgiving fashion that it will leave sensitive viewers feeling forlorn.

Robert J. Maxwell It's based on real events from the 1990s in Melbourne and is quite well done. Ruth Bradley is Caroline, a former baby sitter for a middle-class couple, Guy Pearce and Miranda Otto. The eldest of the couple's children is Rachel, played by Kate Bell. Rachel is only in her mid-teens but has everything a girl requires -- beauty, curiosity, love, and talent. One can only gasp at her impeccable entre chats.Ruth Bradley couldn't have been a better choice for the role of the half-mad and insanely envious Caroline, who murders Rachel and buries her body on a farm. Bradley isn't ugly. The movie isn't that simple minded. But her features are plain, as they are with most of us, and there is only the hint of the demonic in her eyes. Of course she's made up to look more ordinary than she is, what with her stringy hair and pale face. She's a competent actress as well.And her figure is that of a walking survival system. She's chubby all over, which would help her during a famine, and her breasts are over-sized and pendulous. She could reproduce to beat the band. Totally unattractive in today's world of models, but the dream of a Victorian gentleman or a Neanderthal, a Venus of Willendorf.Psychologically, however, she's full of problems, aside from the distress over cosmetic issues. She's sloppy, an epileptic, and suffers from bouts of depression. And there are moments when she is as brutal as a five-year-old child. It's a complex portrait. The murder is brutal and graphic. She strangles the gorgeous young Rachel and mutilates the body but there's an element of helplessness about her most heinous acts.Pearce and Otto, as Rachel's parents, don't have very much to do but the viewer is at least spared an excess of hysteria as they persistently prod the police to investigate what they believe is Rachel's disappearance and the cops think is a simple case of a runaway.Sam Neill is Caroline's estranged and vitiated father who loves his crazy daughter but is depressed and at his wit's end. When he's visited by the police and asked if his daughter might have had something to do with Rachel's disappearance, he pauses and replies, "In light of what you've just said, I have to say I'm deeply concerned." Neill's performance is a gem. His forte is thoughtfulness rather than strength and the role plays directly into his talents.Women like Caroline who are overdeveloped and unattractive according to the norms established by Vogue and Cosmopolitan models have reason for their unhappiness. From an evolutionary point of view, what females have traditionally had to offer is beauty, youth, and fecundity. Unattractive men can compensate by being powerful or rich. For millions of years, females have had to be selective about their mating. They're born with all the eggs they're ever going to have, about three hundred, and every pregnancy represents an enormous investment. The best mate is one who is both potent and protective. A woman who is born without the most desirable attributes has good reason to be depressed, though, as if in compensation, there are always males available who are not handsome, powerful, or rich. Caroline's difficulties included not only an elephantine figure but a lack of patience.It's not without weaknesses: sluggish in parts, and a solution too quickly arrived at. We never get to see much development in Rachel's character. In any case, this is a splendidly executed film, not just by the performers but by the photographer and the writer/director, Simone North. A lot of talent on display here. Good on them.

ThreeGuysOneMovie Based on a true story of a 15 year old Rachel Barber's abduction in Australia, In Her Skin is disturbing to say the least. The movie chronicles the real events that happened before, after, and during this tragic abduction and the many different lives it touched.Rachel Barber goes missing and everyone that knew her knew something was amiss but the Barber family was forced to wait 48 hours before the police would get involved. As her parents frantically look for her and blanket the neighborhood with pictures, we get to see glimpses of her past and the pasts of many people involved in this case .It soon unfolds and the truth is revealed in this psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat.Guy Pearce and Miranda Otto translate incredible emotion and anger as Rachel's parents but for me the standout here was Ruth Bradley as Caroline Reid. Sam Neill also played an overwhelmed, distant parent of Caroline very well as this movie moves swiftly and smoothly through the horrifying truth of this well directed and acted film.I watched this film on demand and was impressed with the overall production. In Her Skin reminded me a lot of The Lovely Bones, which I also enjoyed, that starred Mark Wahlberg. This movie is definitely worth a watch in my opinion