This is a movie I've been wanting to check out for a long time. It hits me right in the feels, because the idea of fostering children in hopes of adopting is something I've wanted to do since I was a kid, so knowing this movie is about a family tat takes in a foster child in hopes of adopting him one day, I knew the movie would hit me emotionally, whatever the outcome. What can I say, I enjoy poking myself in the eye with a pen for fun (which is how it feels when I'm tormenting myself by watching a movie I know will be hard for me, like this one).
So as I said, this movie is about some foster parents who have taken in a little boy. They are still recovering from the death of their own son, and the little boy has had some traumatic experiences as well. One of his homes seems to have been abusive, and in another he was abandoned by his foster parents and it was days before he was discovered. At first, the new parents are happy to have a child in their home again, and though it's always awkward trying to adjust to a situation like this, things seem to be going well, until the parents discover something strange about the little boy who now lives with them.
I think I've mentioned before that I suffer from night terrors. Not just nightmares, but very vivid, lucid dreams that sometimes have me getting up and walking around and even talking in my sleep. I've mostly gotten used to these dreams, but knowing how real they can seem always makes any horror story involving nightmares that much scarier for me. I don't want the things that haunt my dreams to be real, kthx. In this movie, the things in wonder dreams can become real, but so can the things in terrifying nightmares. Talk about scary!
One thing I noticed right away is that the acting in this movie is very good, both from the parents and from the little boy. Even smaller parts, like the other kids in his class or the social worker or the therapist are well acted also. I'm impressed. I've seen a lot of bad acting, and it must be getting to me because I'm appreciating good acting much more than I have in the past. The special effects are great, too. There's no real gore, but there's lots of nightmarish imagery that got under my skin, and I like how the images evolved based on the emotions and memories of the person having the nightmares. The plot was well thought out.
I have to wonder why people in movies like this are always so surprised when a seemingly good thing turns ugly. I mean, when I hear about dreams coming to life, the first thing I think about is my horrifying nightmares. Ok, say I focus on the negative if you want, but it doesn't even occur to these people that bad dreams could come to life too! Nevertheless, I liked this movie and cared about the characters, so I really enjoyed watching it play out.
Hopefully this movie doesn't give me bad dreams that, you know, come to life and kill us all. Haha (she said, turning on the night light). I have to say, some people might not like this movie and might chalk it up as maudlin or sentimental, but I thought it worked perfectly. It had similar themes to "The Babadook," and I think it was better than that movie, even though everyone loved that one. Surprise surprise, my opinion is wildly different from the popular opinion. Story of my life. For my money, this movie is well worth a watch.
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