petervoicu wow..just horrible..the movie is trying to normalize pedophilia..it is disturbing to see that now this is the trend..showing that a relationship between a middle aged man and a very young child is normal and perfectly natural..It is quite shocking that we reached this point where these kind of movies now pop up, and people cant see nothing abnormal about it. Movies as a matter of fact have always been used as an efficient tool to brainwash..this movie is doing just that,,brainwashingavoid this movie..trash that presents child abduction and pedophilia in a positive light!!

Boristhemoggy My first thought when I began to watch this movie was that the writer must have had some dark fantasy about a child and a middle aged man. There are no circumstances which I can think of in my adult life that would persuade me to strike up a friendship with an 11 year old, and (technically) kidnap her to take her on holiday. I do understand the need for human connection and you can have a connection with a child, but it is limited to just that, a connection and not a relationship. I also understand how the naivety and innocence of a child can help reference you to a fresh point again when you've lost your emotional compass. But again, that doesn't mean you befriend them and take them on holiday. However as I watched and thought about it I began to wonder how much our minds are shaped by the modern hatred of paedophilia and the lack of knowledge of paedophiles and how they work. I also have no knowledge of how 11 year olds may view their friendship with a middle age man. I do of course remember being a child and all my relationships with older people were based on a very simple premise: are they nice to be with. Simple. Oona Lawrence isn't sexualised really in this movie although there is an undercurrent always there but I think that's from expectations developed by other movies and life itself. I do know that 11 year olds can be as insightful and 'knowing' as she is, I was myself and I have no idea where the knowledge came from. Intuition? I know a lot of it has left me now though...cynicism?So as the movie progressed I began to feel more comfortable with their relationship thinking to myself, we've lost our way. We've lost our capacity to keep things in perspective. Much like the hunt for communists in America, "Reds under the Bed" and all that, there was a paranoia that had been struck up that was out of all realistic proportion to the threat. I think the same happened here. There's been so much focus in paedophiles and so many simple behaviours that are not now acceptable that anything that is even remotely hinting at even a friendship between child and adult becomes suspect. As you keep watching you realise that while his actions are still inappropriate and unrealistic, they are innocent and well intended. He's saving her and saving himself at the same time. Their souls bonded because they were alike but with his greater life experience, he knew that with her support -or the support he'd get by helping her and therefore re tuning his own compass- he would also help himself. Suddenly everything is OK and you want them to stay friends, because that level of friendship is in fact only possible with the naive innocence of a child and the child like need of a lost adult. The movie is not only engaging and well directed, fabulously acted and paced intelligently, it's also a comment to say "Hey, not every man is a paedophile. Not every relationship between adult and child is wrong." Sometimes it's the suspicions of the watchers that are suspect, not the actions of the participants. Watch this movie with an open mind and consider you and your society.

poisoncupcake74 I don't even know what to think about this movie, but I bet its going to be very big in pedophile circles. Its about a 47 yr old lonely guy who meets/befriends an 11 year old (whose parent is nowhere ever) that comes up to him at a truck stop in heels asking for a cigarette & then takes her on a trip with him. He urges her to lie to anyone they meet about who she is and their relationship. She asks to both call home and go home to which he refuses stating that would get her in more trouble. Then after being around this guy for a week and he doesn't molest or murder her she decides she's in love with him, further showing she is too young for even a friendship with this man. Yes the acting is flawless, superb. It is an absolute beautifully made movie. But their is beauty in illusion. I get that these two characters are lost/lonely and the girl is both abused & starving for affection and you can argue all day that this is a beautiful movie about friendship, but this movie is completely & utterly socially irresponsible!!! I believe this movie is an attempt to start controversy and make the audience think that this is such art that this situation could be appropriate if it was handled as delicately. NO. See it for what it is. It is a grown man trying to make friends with a child, not a girlfriends daughter, not a niece, a separate child. Deplorable.

godsnames The movie, as a movie, it is not so bad. I can even say that sometimes beautifully shot. The subject of it, however, utterly disturbing and unsettling. It is about a 40 something man's love for an 11 year old girl. There is no sexual abuse - obviously -, otherwise it would have never arrived to the big screen. That said, from the very start of the story, the "sexual" concept is all above it, cautiously managing a very thin line between "happen" and "not happen". Worst thing of all that, however want to explain it, it is child abuse, if not physically, mentally surely. And that's what makes me really sick about it. No one, in his right mind, should ever do that to a child. And that's sums it all up. In the final scene, you can see an again abandoned little child running after a car, emotionally drained, desperately trying to catch something she could never have. And the man who did this to her, just drives away. Very, very bad. I don't give a .... about the man. In my opinion he is as bad as he can be. But the child - that's more than heartbreaking.