December 25, 2014 -- In this psychological drama, a high school girl, Kat Connor (played by Shailene Woodley of “The Fault in Our Stars”) comes home from school one day to find out that her mother, Eve (Eva Green of “300: Rise of an Empire”) is missing. Her father, Brock (Christopher Meloni of “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” says he has looked everywhere for her.

At first, Kat seems unaffected by her mother's absence, since the two never got along well anyway, and her mother's behavior had been increasingly erratic shortly before she disappeared. Kat figured her mother had just ran away and disappeared. Kat could never understand why her mother, a great beauty, had married her rather meek, dull father in the first place.

During visits to a psychiatrist, Dr. Thaler (Angela Bassett of “Olympus Has Fallen”) displays no sense of loss about the absence of her mother. As the months and years go by, she puts this behind her and decides that her mother will never come back. She seems to be at peace with this.

But Kat has persistent dreams about her mother, often in a white background, in snow. Memories come back to her about her mother's odd behavior shortly before she disappeared. Her boyfriend, next door neighbor, Phil (Shiloh Fernandez of “Evil Dead”) had also been acting strangely around the time of her mother's disappearance. He stopped wanting to have sex with Kat.

Kat has an affair with the detective in charge of investigating her mother's disappearance, Detective Scieziesciez (Thomas Jane of “Drive Hard”) in order to service her hefty libido (there is partial nudity in these sex scenes). Returning on break from college, Kat finally asks him where he thinks her mother went. The detective tells her his theory and she dismisses it angrily. He calmly says, “You wanted my professional opinion and I gave it to you.”

This gets Kat thinking about her mother's disappearance in a new way, however. The memories of her mother's behavior shortly before her disappearance churn inside her again, and are viewed in a new light. Kat discusses the detective's theory with her two friends, Beth (Gabourey Sidibe of “Seven Psychopaths”) and Mickey (Mark Indelicato) and they remind her that they had told her something similar shortly after the disappearance, but Kat had dismissed their idea.

There are plenty of hints in the movie about the solution to this mystery. I had it figured out before Kat did. However, there is one final twist revealed at the end of the film that I did not see coming. This is an interesting story. Not a lot happens in this story, but the characters are so well-drawn and the acting, especially by Woodley, Meloni, Thomas Jane and Shiloh Fernandez, is so excellent I did not mind the lack of drama in the story.

I hadn't really noticed Thomas Jane in a good movie since “The Mist” (one of the best horror films of the past decade). Jane gives a great performance in this movie as world-weary detective who has seen too much ugliness in his work. He is honest, tender and strong in this uncompromising performance. This guy deserves more work.

Woodley is a real chameleon, disappearing into very different characters in some of her recent movies, including being a warrior in “Divergent.” If there is a limit to Woodley's talent, I don't see it, and she's very easy on the eyes, too. Meloni is another actor who can handle a wide range of character types. These fine actors made this story worth following. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2014 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at .