THE LOVED ONES is one of those movies that's
better than its premise suggests. This Australian shocker from Sean Byrne is
about a high school girl who kidnaps and tortures a high school boy who turns
her down when she asks him to the end of school dance.
One thing that elevates this material is the
lead performance by Robin McLeavy as the high school girl. She's convincing as
a psychotic monster, a spoiled brat and a shy and unassuming school girl. This
is a role that would have been easy to overplay, and McLeavy does do her share
of scenery chewing, but it all remains within the realm of believability. Maybe
it's just because of the way she looks – she's obviously a very pretty young
woman, but she doesn't look like a late 20s Hollywood star pretending to be a
kid. You can buy she's actually a kid, and that makes the movie even more
disturbing.
She's aided and abetted by her father (John
Brumpton) who is his own special brand of crazy. After the first act, the
victim (Xavier Samuel) doesn't have much to say, other than gasping, grunting
and screaming, but he's believable, too, as a slacker who has lost his way
after losing his father in a car accident. He does have a loving girlfriend
(Victoria Thaine) who is given the ability to be a three dimensional and
thinking human who doesn't make dumb horror movie decisions, thanks to an
offbeat screenplay, written by the director.
One thing that makes this story interesting is
that it makes it clear that the crazy killer views herself as a victim.
Everything from her favorite song by Kasey Chambers to her scrapbook of failed
"relationships" makes it obvious from her point of view she's the one
who never gets what she wants and is owed something by the world. Of course,
she's still a monster, but again, this makes her a more believable monster,
because she has feelings. So many movie monsters don't have any feelings at
all.
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