This is newbie director Rowan Athale's second full length feature film (plus one short), and aside from a few technical errors and editing issues, he pretty much nailed it behind the camera and in directing his cast.
The film is an adaptation of the novel (I haven't read it) of the same name by John Searles, turned into a screenplay by novice writer Eric Garcia. The pacing started out decent, then slowed down midway, and felt dragged out towards the end, that the 96 min run-time felt longer. I wasn't a fan of the non-climatic stretch of cross-cutting time lines, and I felt the story would've been better told in the proper order.
Casting was excellent and all actors were convincing in their roles, especially Margaret Qualley, who was outstanding in her starring role.
The cinematography was on point, and the score perfect for this type of film.
For a low-budget B-grade film by unseasoned filmmakers, this was a surprisingly enjoyable noir-thriller about grief, belief and the things we keep hidden.
It's a recommended watch and a well deserved 8/10 from me.
