Saving Zoë

The story combines familiar high school/ teen themes with much more serious elements of exploitation, crime and tragedy. Director Jeffrey Hunt gets very good performances from the Marano sisters ( a twist of the movie is sisters playing sisters) with a very good supporting cast. The most interesting aspect is the narrative technique : the story is gradually revealed using diary material, imagined events, flash-backs and some clever juxtaposition of the presence of the older and the younger sister. The most impressive aspects of the movie are technical with high standards from the Director of Photography, Production Designers and Editors.

The story itself is great. Like really awesome, the acting is good and the cast is perfect. The problem comes in the editing, the pacing, the direction, the visuals and the soundtrack.

First, some shots are like very weird, confusing, sometimes is easy to say if things are happening in the past or the present or if it's something that the main character is imagining. But sometimes it's ridiculously hard, that's the problem with the editing. The pacing is so slow that sometimes it makes you feel that there's no direction at all. The direction is because this movie seems so cheap and boring sometimes. Also, it's not visually appealing, some shots are just bored and the background music, some scenes are not so powerful or entertaining because it's so quiet, there's so little music in the background or sound that's just boring.

Surprisingly good. Well acted and tight screenplay. There are some comparisons to "13 Reasons Why" - but for people who don't have the patience for such drawn out angst, this movie is a better alternative. The story is good and doesn't get too unbelievable. Liked the dramatic conclusion - quite feel good and makes sense. There are some heavy themes about drugs alcohol and sexual exploitation and worse. It's more of a thriller than the average preachy angst filled YA fiction.

Having 2 sisters Vanessa and Laura Marano act together makes the story believable. Vanessa from Switched at Birth looks pretty here. The other cast members are good too including the dope fiend friend who has the druggie look down. Nathaniel Buzolic is good as the bad guy - he should do more villains. Ken Jeong plays it non comical for a change.

Worth a watch.

Sisters have a special bond. Like brothers I guess. This bond right here is even something you could call meta. Because the characters who are sisters, are also sisters in real life. Maybe that is why they look so similar. Well not just maybe.

A decent thriller, that has an important message overall. Not always an upliftingone, but one that may be exactly what you need to see and/or hear. A tour de force for our main character - through cliches, some predictability, but also a lot of suspense and questions that she needs answers too. And they will be found - for better or worse.

I liked the movie, the story held up but something was missing. It felt like the actors were inexperienced or new to filming. Some scenes seemed and were stiff or emotionless in some way. If the actors were more experienced it would have been a 10