Sadie

Ouch. Don't go into this expecting a good time. All I can say is the kid's performance was great and the plot keeps you engaged, but for those prone to depressive thoughts I'd advise you to skip this. It might be the very thing that drives you over the edge. Hardly anyone here is sympathetic, even most of the so-called 'nice' characters do something jerky by the end to make you not like them. But like I said, it's a very intriguing work... particularly the title character, who is a textbook case of a messed up child. Someone get her to a good quack pronto. 6/10.

I was actually very surprised how this film held my attention, it is a very down to earth drama. The acting was adequate but the direction really held it together. The length was perfect, and the ending really made me think.

Many of us have been resentful of a potential step parent unwantedly stepping into a parent type role. Well what if a child went too far? This film explores cause and effect of a teenage girl who holds her uncaring father on a pedestal, and the lengths she will go to , to keep it that way. As the film progresses, we see that Cyrus, the mum's boyfriend, is not perfect, he has a drug addiction, seems set in his ways, and is weak at dealing with problems. That would describe many people we know. With all these shortfalls i still didn't want to see him the target of the daughters wrath. The plot makes me wonder if this has happened in real life. The daughter only realises her actions are all mistakes later on. I knock a star off as i would have liked to have seen the after-effects explored more deeply. Great film unless you want to see things blowing up : )

Firstly, you should know, I DON'T like these kind of movies. I like action movies and this is not an action movie. Also I like sci-fi and this is not sci-fi. What it is, is a surprisingly good representation of the kind of mixed up lives that many "normal" families end up living these days. Sadie displays many characteristics typical of any 13 year old kid that you know, along with the messy family structure, and events, that are common to many. The directing is clever and avoids overstating many of the small steps that are instead left as implied, and eventually build up to an unfortunate (although somewhat predicable) finale.