Director: Lucky McKee
Cast: Pollyanna McIntosh, Angela Bettis, Sean Bridgers, Lauren Ashley Carter, Carlee Baker, Alexa Marcigliano, Zach Rand, Shyla Molhusen
Screenplay: Jack Ketchum, Lucky McKee
101 mins. Rated R for strong bloody violence, torture, a rape, disturbing behavior, some graphic nudity, and language.
The Woman is a movie that tries to substitute oddities for actual storytelling. It is a sequel to Jack Ketchum’s Offspring, and follows a woman (Pollyanna McIntosh, TV’s M.I. High, Exam) who has existed in the wild for all her life. She is discovered and kidnapped by Chris Cleek (Sean Bridgers, TV’s Rectify, Sweet Home Alabama) who has her imprisoned in his cellar. He soon presents his captive to the rest of the Cleek family and tells them his master plan: to make this woman civilized. He doesn’t expect her cunning abilities to both defend and protect herself.
It is tough to describe the plot of this film is a plot. It is also difficult to describe any of the performances as actual characters. No one actually acts the way they should in situations like this. First of all, a woman of the wild would not have been captured by the dunce that is Chris Cleek. Next, a man like Cleek who has captured this woman would not present it to his family with the belief that they would “go along” with this insane plan. Finally, none of these family members would “go along” with it, especially the wife Belle (Angela Bettis, Girl, Interrupted, Toolbox Murders) who just assumes that he knows best. I’m sorry, but any normal situation would follow with Belle walking the hell out of that house and marriage.
I just didn’t like anyone. Even the woman, she is more of a stock neanderthal than an actually developed character.
Lucky McKee’s screenplay with the source material’s author Ketchum is nothing to promote either. These are unsettling characters in an odd representation of actual life. The ending completely unraveled as well, introducing characters that we haven’t seen yet and that have no explanation in their existence at all, making the entire thing feel like some major subplots have been removed by accident. Such a disappointment that I couldn’t wait for it to end. Skip this movie. It looks terrible and it is terrible. There isn’t even anything of technical merit here to give reason to actually view it.
1/5
-Kyle A. Goethe
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