By Jan Hamilton
The audience first sees Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) as she awakes from a nightmare. In her dream, she is in the middle of an earthquake, with water rising around her bed. Awake, she realizes it was no dream and she is the one causing the earthquake. Now on the run, the only place she can go is her family’s home that she left years ago. A nice man givers her a ride when it seems like the police may capture her, but he is a scientist–one of several who want to capture and study her. She manages to escape and reach her home, where she finds her disapproving mother Bo (Lorraine Toussaint) and the young teen daughter Lily (Saniyya Sidney) she left behind.
It seems like all the women in the family have special gifts; however, Ruth’s particular gift is deadly and she cannot control it. When the sheriff Ellis (David Straithairn) arrives, Ruth finds they have an unexpected an unexpected ally and learns some family history previously unknown to her. It seems only a matter of time until the group stalking her will take them all in. How and if they escape make for an exciting movie.
Though this definitely is a thriller, restoring the bonds between mothers and daughters is an underlying theme. As all three generations try to re-establish the love and trust they had lost, audiences will get to witness a wondeful and a warm film. The three lead actresses are great, and although, the director, Julia Hart, hasn’t helmed a lot of films, it’s clear she has a great future ahead of her. This was a a favorite of audiences at the festival, as it is a crowd-pleasing film.
Film Credits:
Director: Julia Hart
Executive Producer: Michael Glassman,
Jennifer Monroe, Alison Semenza King
Producer: Mickey Liddell, Pete Shilaimon,
Jordan Horowitz
Screenwriter: Julia Hart & Jordan Horowitz
Cinematographer: Michael Fimognari
Editor: Martin Pensa
Production Designer: Gae Buckley
Music: Rob Simonsen
Principal Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw,
Lorraine Toussaint, Saniyya Sidney,
Christopher Denham, David Strathairn