Absentia (2011)
Huge thank you to Roshiq, who mentioned this movie in his list of Top Horror Movies of 2010/2011. This is a great little horror gem with ridiculously tight acting and a refreshingly original script. It's rare nowadays that you have a horror movie that really spends time on character development (
Innkeepers comes to mind as one of the recent exceptions), and it's refreshing when it happens - In
Absentia, you truly get to know your two main characters, Callie and Tricia - These are truly
real women with baggage that you can truly sympathize with. Their relationship is also incredibly well-done to the point where, at the end of the movie, I really didn't want to let them go. That doesn't happen very often.
This is definitely a slow-burner, and for those of you who can't tolerate low-budget, this is definitely not for you... However, this movie does a LOT on its limited budget to build characters, suspense, pathos, and a really interesting storyline.
Recommended.
3.75/5.
...
Rio (2011)
Unfunny, poorly written, painfully formulaic, and oddly racist at times. What a waste of some gorgeous animation.
2/5.