This movie was so well acted that I didn’t realize it had been carried by only four performers for 90% of the film. And my God, that final scene. Very few times in my life have I ever gasped but that caught me entirely off guard, and it wasn’t til after the credits rolled that what the main character did made sense to me. When you experience grief that is heavy enough, you’ll do whatever you can to not hurt anymore. And by saving that chick from that lady in that way, she also had the opportunity to end her own pain. Absolutely powerful but poignant performance. 

If I had know this was directed by Clint Eastwood, I would have skipped it altogether. His movies are just not my cup of tea. 

The reason this film scored so low with me is because it is not the story of how a little boy escapes, it is of how a little boy dies. In this film the boy could only escape because of a supernatural connection, but not only that, he needed a psychic connection to supplement the supernatural one. In other words, no matter who you look at it, that boy died, regardless of how the film played it out. If a little boy was actually in that position, there would be no other little boys to call him and there would certainly be no psychic toddler aged sister to tell the police where you were. I think the film would’ve been much better if 1.) they had the little boy escape through his own devices and not have to depend on others that would not exist in the real world. And 2.) A motive. I get that in the real world, these things sometimes happen at random but that is incredibly rare. There is always a reason, be it past trauma, mental health, sacrifice, inner demons, etc. We know that there is a pattern because he only chooses little boys, so that they didn’t reveal a motive  super troubling, and overall a very unsatisfying film. I would’ve loved to seen the kid escaped and it be believable. They really missed the mark with this one. #JustMyOpinion

The scene towards the end where he was fighting while he was high, and seeing stuff that wasn’t actually happening? I laughed harder at that than I do at most actual comedy movies. The plot was also quite meaningful to me cuz I’m always going to believe that children should be allowed to be children.

There were, of course some things that could’ve been better but I don’t fault the movie. King Lolo being willing to kill someone over a pair of sneakers he no longer needed felt like a stretch. That he’d kill girls, even more of a stretch when you could figure out more uses for someone alive than dead BUT they needed that in the plot because without it, how do you move the story forward. And this is just me being nitpicky – I didn’t mind the Lolo storyline because watching them navigate it meant more screen time for Keke and SZA and I’m here for it.

Movies like this, filled with so much tension are why it is so hard for me to watch black horror films. I don’t mind experiencing tension like this in a movie but so many situations I see in real life where black folks are genuinely afraid and/or in harms way of something that is inescapable makes me sometimes physically ill. I felt true anxiety watching this and the last time I felt this type of anxiety in real life and much, much stronger was the George Floyd video. So I’m thrilled that no black folks were in this. I honestly don’t think I could watch if there were.

I would never EVER had guessed that a movie with not a single word of dialogue could engage me like this. The entire movie I kept trying to guess where it was going and I was not right a single time. It kept me surprised until the very end. The scene with the bird with the broken wing rising into the sky, it was 10 minutes after that scene was over that I realized what had happened. Just a fantastic movie from beginning to end. 10/10

I was too young to understand what I was looking at when I went with my brother and sister but got dang… Every other line had something to do with sex. They should’ve just axed the horror elements, put some breasts in this and just made it a porno. I can’t remember a movie being this sexual without showing any – I mean, every friggin joke was about boning? Well, I reckon now we know what poor writing looks like. If you have nothing to say, talk about sex.

Movies like this, filled with so much tension are why it is so hard for me to watch black horror films. I don’t mind experiencing tension like this in a movie but so many situations I see in real life where black folks are genuinely afraid and/or in harms way of something that is inescapable makes me sometimes physically ill. I felt true anxiety watching this and the last time I felt this type of anxiety in real life and much, much stronger was the George Floyd video. So I’m thrilled that no black folks were in this. I honestly don’t think I could watch if there were.

I’m not sure this will count as spoiling but just showing appreciation for that the characters in this movie felt like real people and behaved in ways that you don’t often associate with the courageousness and honor that one associates with being in the military. I do not often think anything other than soldiers are the badasses of our society until I see them once they are back from their tours and are struggling both based on what they went through in the service and how they are treated once they return home.