Best movie of this year hands down!

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

A hidden gem of a film. I have no idea why they did not address then entire theme of the film in any synopsis I read, anywhere. Especially since it was revealed within the first several minutes. What is it? The unfortunately seldom addressed, yet perennially relevant trauma that is sexual abuse. Specifically, by an older father figure upon a naive young girl. The situations where charged are never pressed, but the repercussions can be devastating and lifelong, in ways that might not be obvious to the unsuspecting eye. The more the general public is educated, the more likely we are to understand and recognize the problem. I will not say that much more because this is the type of film one must view to truly appreciate; words will not suffice. It is is the casting decisions, the resulting chemistry between the characters, the subtle nuances of the acting, the things that are not said, and the in between silences that really make the difference. All around impressive performances. Emily VanCamp as 29 year old Alice, forced to revisit her traumatic past with the man who raped her, then proceeded to use her words and her entire life as the protagonist for a best selling book. As Milan, the older man who manipulates, sexually abuses, uses, and rapes her, Michael Nyqvist manages to make his character almost vindicable at times, other times someone viewers would want killed. Michael Cristofer as the dominating father that neglects his daughter, obviously calling out for attention. My personal favorite, Ali Ahn as the Asian girl that is Ana's best friend and always straightforward voice of reason. Why? Because she reminds me of me, of course. Ethnicity aside, the secret to her heart is good food (I love the scene where she tells Ana she does not want to see her for a while but takes the dulche de leche from her hands before closing the door on her) and she tells it as it is, blunt to a fault. Mason Yam as the adorable soon that Alice is a godmother to. David Call as the cute boyfriend that opens Alice's eyes. Last but certainly not least, the most unexpectedly commendable performance by Ana Mulvoy Ten, playing young Alice. **** Spoilers **** My only complaint is that it did make it seem a little too easy for Alice to work through her trauma. Based on my time in the world of Social Work and bring a Psychology scholar, I can assure you most cases of sexual abuse, with the victim more than a decade later, will not "heal" as suddenly as this film seemed to portray. It felt like a forced positive ending, since that is what most audiences want. Oh, and that "100 Reasons You Should Forgive Me" idea? Romantic. Touching. Ingenious. Awesome.

I enjoyed the movie in most ways overall. The subject matter is an important one and needs to be addressed. However, the ending where she comes to a realization more of what's wrong in her life, it seems to say that a victim can just come to understanding, spells out her future hopes and promises, and "all is forgiven". It really doesn't work that way in real life. That's a huge trauma for anyone to go through and without some long-term professional help, human beings are rarely able to move forward and just "don't do it" anymore. I found it very unrealistic and not a great message to put into the world. Hard and deep trauma requires hard and deep help from professionals who know what they're doing. And yes, as another viewer suggested, it should have a strong warning at the beginning for those who might have gone through similar situations in their real life.

Why was Alice supposed to be able to stop Milan touching her when he tried to grope her breasts but was unable to stop him when he said that he wanted to make her come? The contradiction was utterly stupid and pathetic and completely ruined the film.Why did Milan, a middle-aged man go up to Alice, a sixteen year old girl and say "I want to make you come.", and start stroking her between her legs whilst ordering her in a cold tone of voice to keep her eyes open?Was it because he wanted to treat her with love and affection and make her feel happy, excited, worthwhile, wanted and uplifted or because he wanted to treat her with contempt and make her feel unhappy, shocked, worthless, debased and degraded?Why would an adult male want to treat a female with contempt and make her feel unhappy, shocked, worthless, debased and degraded?Would it be because he felt worthless, debased and degraded himself at the thought that whereas he found her extremely desirable and attractive she didn't return the compliment, and that, as a result, he felt overwhelmed with humiliation, envy and resentment?

It's one thing to show a movie about a college professor seducing a college student, but a middle aged man seducing a 14 year old? If we are to believe that this guy actually did that, than he is basically a monster. Why would the girl even speak to him later? Having said that, I don't think they ever had sex. If they did, that would have been much more traumatic and the story would have been about statutory rape, not molestation.The actors do a good job. I like the fact that her friends didn't just take her indiscretions lightly due to being N.Y. liberals. They called her out on her immoral behavior and made her suffer and repent.I understand that the woman who created this story was trying to make a statement about sexual abuse, but in reality she kind of just played to men's prurient interests by showing the scenes she did. Some of them were gratuitous.The whole thing was so slow. Why couldn't our main character just tell everyone off early on and get on with her life? I found the older guy so creepy and our protagonist's continual toleration of him annoying. Even when she does tell him off, it's pretty weak.The Asian lady, the dad, the editor, and the boyfriend were all excellent. But I wouldn't watch it knowing what I know now. It's boring and pointless. However, there were enough decent pieces of dialog and emotion to redeem it from the much lower rating I contemplated.