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In contrast to Sue Ann, these kids arent exactly presented with innovative distinction.
Unfortunately, the tragedy of Sue Anns life remains largely unaddressed.
Even the films setting feels uncertain.
The uncanny location makes the decision to not unpack the racial malignancy of the community all the more galling.
Figures crumple under cars, dogs succumb to poison, lips are sewn.
That the story ends with a white protagonist and motherhood exalted is as heroic as it is damning.
Ultimately, to borrow a phrase from writer Michele Wallace,Mais too wistfully hegemonic to truly work.
Bad dad Luke Evans hits the right blend of scuzzy and angry.
Missi Pyle plays his drunken girlfriend, introduced when shes giving him a blow job in his car.
But its Octavia Spencer who is most striking, filling the story with an immense, glowering energy.
She studies her reflection like she studies the teenagers now trapped in her web of deceit: intensely.
Through her,Masuggests what might happen when the mammy figures love of whiteness curdles into a violent obsession.
Too bad it only hints at the answer.
