Mon Jun 22, 2020 11:48 am
Thanks for the recommendation, DF, and your review, Lori.
So I had a few days to mull it over. Such a sad film, really almost hopeless.
Like you said, Lori, even if we were shown some tenderness and camaraderie between the children, even if that is likely to stay for a while between them and offer some comfort to both moving forward, their lives will still be a nightmare. Abbie's 'life' is almost entirely about her constant craving for blood. We could see how she could control it to a certain extent, as in she didn't hurt Owen. So she has some choice, some humanity left in her. We also saw her showing affection to Owen, as well as her old guardian. These acts weren't all about grooming or manipulation, I don't think. In fact the duality of Abbie's motivation to connect to Owen was one of the most fascinating parts of the film. Yes, she needed another companion, and yes, she needed to groom him and train him up for the challenge. But she is partly still a child frozen in time, and echoes of her humanity were longing for play, a friend, and some fun, some normal childhood living she's missed out on. It was impossible not to feel some sympathy for her.
Yet, she's a monster, and she's killed good people, even some who were trying to help her. And she's going to ruin Owen's life by making him commit horrendous murders for her for he rest of his life. I don't think the plan was to turn Owen into a vampire. It seemed it was very much going in the same direction as her relationship with the previous carer, judging by the photographs of them together when he was a child.
Owen's situation was heartbreaking. So damaged already, at the beginning of the film. A sensitive, sad little boy, victim of his parents' divorce, severely bullied in school, no one to turn to for help and comfort. Drifting towards doing the "wrong" things: prepraring for revenge with a knife, stealing from his mother, lying to her, cutting someone's ear open (even if it was self defence), rejoicing in his bully getting bullied (even if he deserved it) then helping to cover up murder, running away from home, most likely starting a new life as a serial murderer. Owen sensed he was on borderline spilling into a life of evil, his phone call to his father was devastating. With his parents unable to be there for their son, Owen had no one but Abbie, and he chose evil because at least she truly noticed him and appeared to care for him. To the extent that she sensed his life was in mortal danger and came back to rescue him. This act sealed the deal between Abbie and Owen: he was now forever in her debt, but probably laced with a sense of true gratitude and trust.
I found the lack of adult intervention in the nightmare world of the children bullying one another horrendous. Not even Owen was excluded or severely punished for cutting a boy's ear in half. No proper investigation. I know these days in the Western world much is done to prevent bullying in schools, but still there's a lot of hurt, especially psychological, that will not be properly dealt with. And in some parts of the world I'm sure bullying goes way worse than this.
But putting bullying aside, the gutwrenching solitude of Owen is something that will stay with me from this film. To be so desperate for some affection and connection that he chose to be with a vampire to get it... as you've put it Lori, the things we do for love...
Put in a supernatural setting, this film was picturing some dark pitfalls of humanity.
