Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good movie but grossly overrated

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I didn't like the 90's grunge aesthetics (was Sherri based on Courtney Love?) of this film or the borderline soft-core porn sex scenes at the beginning. I get however that the scenes are there to show that both of the main characters are still acting out sexual dysfunction from the central traumatic event in the film. Owen prematurely ejaculates due to the trauma and has trouble getting close to people because he was sexually abused by his much older brother. Owen was just a child when they physically dragged him into the room, assaulted and threatened him into sexually performing against his will with this girl they were raping. As he says, his body betrayed him, and it is a common reaction for boys who are scared or nervous to get an erection; it is something many male survivors deal with.Yet Own is treated with contempt in the film, yelled at, hit, and people act like he deserves to have guilt. But Owen was also a survivor, suffering from PTSD and he deserved closure and healing just as much as Sherri did. He was not responsible for what happened but he did a great thing by coming back and trying to make some of it right. It's too bad that the film couldn't lend him a more sympathetic ear but rather uses him as a scapegoat for the anger the other characters feel about what happened to her. No one feels angry about what was done to him. There is no comparing pain, there is no hierarchy of trauma that justifies everyone self-righteously dismissing people like Owen.I only watched this film because I follow Gabriel Mann and because I am also a male survivor of sexual abuse, and child pornography where I was forced by adults to act out scenes with other children. And I'm certainly not partly to blame along with the child pornographers for that.

THINGS BEHIND THE SUN (dir. Allison Anders) Sherry is the hard-drinking lead singer of a Floridian alternative-country-rock band who has been deeply traumatized by a violent incident from her past. Sherry was raped as a young teenager, and has never been able to deal with pain and emotional fallout of this event. Just as her band begins to enjoy wider exposure, a writer from an underground magazine mysteriously informs her of missing information about the rape that might allow her to put the incident behind her, or irrevocably throw them both over the edge. Great ensemble acting by a terrific cast, and the film deals with more than just the act of rape, but addresses the moral complicity of an observer of rape who chooses to do nothing. This is truly 'An Overlooked Film', and it really deserves much wider acclaim. Great understated performances by Don Cheadle, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, and features a cameo by singer/songwriter, J. Mascis, of the legendary alternative-rock band, DINOSAUR JR.......... MUST SEE

I caught this movie in the early AM hours and could not stop watching, even though I needed to get some sleep. I had to watch the whole thing after investing the time and energy in the first hour.I was amazed at the subtleties in the ending. The first real smile on the face of Sherry at the end was amazing. Up until that point, any smile had seemed forced or under the influence.The one element that made me scratch my head was during Sherry's first meeting with the adult Owen that had come to interview her. It seemed to me that she should have had all of those feelings come flooding back as soon as she heard his whole name. She obviously would have blocked out anything that occurred after the rape, but young Owen was her best friend/first crush. I felt that she easily would have recalled that, but not anything that included him in the rape.I read in another comment that the subject matter of this film is something that women are frequently familiar with. Just as familiar is the feeling that the character of Chuck experienced. He was forced to try to steady the ship until Sherry finally reconciled what had happened in whatever manner she could. He had no outlet and no way to help her until she was ready.

This is an excellent film about a very difficult subject. All the performances were great as was the script. I thought the scenes of the rapes were very well handled. I give full credit to all those associated with this film. Too bad Don Cheadle lost to Steve Buscemi at the Independent Spirit Awards!