Review of The War Zone (1999) by Jesse O — 22 Apr 2014

It's incredibly rare to see an actor's first feature as a director be so incredibly disturbing and touching on a very controversial subject such as incest and sexual violence. And the fact that it does so in such a subtle and complex way, with more and more information gradually being revealed as the movie goes on, weaving an even deeper and more complex tale of incest, makes it all the more disturbing and harrowing to watch.

The film slowly builds up to its natural climax by, like I said, slowly revealing more bits of information, each bit worse than the last, until you get to the climax where the father does a pretty goddamn despicable thing and how that pushes Tom to take action in order to protect Jessie, his mother, and his newborn sister.

The acting reflects this very subtle and complex storytelling. Though I did find Freddie Cunliffe to be a little lifeless and wooden, yes I realize his character was supposed to be unemotional but he doesn't quite pool it off.

See Paul Dano in Little Miss Sunshine for how to do an unemotional performance properly. But Lara Belmont is absolutely incredible in this film and her performance is heartbreaking and multi-layered at the same time.

Who knows how many years she's been sexually abused by her father, but the way she acts towards him during the climax of the film implies that it's been going on for quite a while. She's just incredible here and I'm surprised that her career hasn't taken off after this, she hasn't been attached to many high-profile projects in her career.

And that really surprises me, because with her performance here, it should've made her a star. Maybe she didn't really want the hassle of being famous. Still, she is the heart and soul of this film and her performance will haunt you for a while.

The cinematography in the film is certainly lacking, as I'm assuming the film didn't have a large budget, but it's certainly a minor issue. I think there'll be those that won't watch the movie just because of the way it looks, but it is an excellent drama with tremendous acting and I'd definitely recommend it.