Blessed (2009)
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 13
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 2
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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 1
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 1
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
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Movie Info
The actions of a handful of troubled young people are seen from two different perspectives in this drama from Australian filmmaker Ana Kokkinos. Daniel (Harrison Gilbertson) has a combative relationship with his parents and acts out by stealing; when challenged by his mother, he breaks into a neighbor's house and accidentally causes the death of an elderly woman. Orton (Reef Ireland) has run away from home and is stranded in the big city; his younger sister Stacey (Eva Lazzaro) finds him living
Sep 10, 2009 Wide
Aug 11, 2009
Cast
-
Frances O'Connor
Rhonda -
Miranda Otto
Bianca -
Deborra-Lee Furness
Tanya -
Victoria Haralabidou
Gina -
Sophie Lowe
Katrina -
Monica Maughan
Laurel
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All Critics (13) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (2) | DVD (1)
Some fine talent manages to rise above flimsy scenarios in this multi-thread expose of low-rent Melbourne mothering and its bitter legacy. Surely the whole truth would call for some rays of light in these shabby lives?
Top CriticUnforgiving in its shrewd relentlessness, the cast is flawless as is the direction.
A tad bloated and uncompromisingly bleak, Blessed is buoyed by its impressive ensemble cast.
Blessed is uneven and overall not as good as Kokkinos's other films but it nevertheless contains some of her best work to date.
A slow-burning, emotionally haunting film that thrusts the bond between mother and child under a microscope.
Blessed is a rich, unsettling vision of the mother-child relationship, By the end, it is clear that things are not always as they seem. Sometimes it's a reversal of expectations, sometimes an unpredictable consequence.
Blessed's relentless melodrama means the situations feel staged and stereotypical and both the mothers and children for the most part become painful, charmless annoyances who we want to go home to avoid.
Kokkinos is never backward in confronting her audience, but she's also a sensitive portrayer of emotions that are basic to us all and with this marvellous film she has created her best work so far.
Blessed is a powerful and truthful movie experience that lingers long after the end.
Skilfully woven together, the separate tales that eventually intersect portray a touching look at the relationship between mothers and children.
Brilliant performances and Kokkinos' assured direction result in another strong local production.
Blessed with cinematic ambition, Ana Kokkinos and her writing collaborators have forged a striking film out of pain and dysfunction, yet managing to pull out a serene sense of closure in the final moments.
Ana Kokkinos has made an exquisitely and brutally powerful film about the indestructible but fragile thread that connects mothers and children.
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Based on the play Who's Afraid of the Working Class?, the stage origins are invisible. It's a fine script, director Ann Kokkinos is a master storyteller, and the performances are phenomenal. Deborra-Lee Furness brings her steady inner energy to her motherly role, Miranda Otto lives inside her character's head, and the young members of the cast all hold their own. It's unfair to play favourites, but Frances O'Connor's Rhonda - the runaway siblings' mother - is exceptional. At first look, the pregnant, smoking, tattooed Rhonda is a cliche, but O'Connor quickly makes her real.