Is this accurate? - Review by Warren Curry
As my "free" time is limited, I turned to reviews before watching Purgatory House. I still have not seen the movie - a recent topic on this board has turned me off. However, I read this review by Warren Curry and it seemed to be a middle ground between the five out of five star and negative fourteen star reviews I've read. I'll admit, this one does not portray the movie in the best light, but I was wondering whether this was accurate.
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a movie review by: Warren Curry
Purgatory House is a noble, ambitious film, full of ideas that don't quite gel into a well-focused whole. Written by and starring 14-year-old Celeste Davis (who, according to the press kit, the filmmakers believe may be the youngest person to ever receive sole screenwriting credit on a feature film), Purgatory House tells the story of suicide victim Silver Strand (Davis), a teenage girl who finds herself sentenced to an eternity of repetition in a place known as Purgatory House. Davis' script is full of introspection and sincerity, but (as condescending as this may sound) the complexities of the issues it deals with are probably best approached from a place of greater reflection. Aside from displaying an experienced knowledge of the teen angst terrain, the young writer seems too close to the material to offer the words of wisdom her screenplay strives to dispense.
The narrative is told, in part, via a dizzying mix of flashbacks and dream sequences, while Silver acclimates herself to life in Purgatory House. In Purgatory House, Silver is watched over by Saint James (Jim Hanks, Tom's brother), a man who acts as something of a parental figure to the group of kids who have been banished to this holding area. An alienated teenager with a drug addict boyfriend but no other friends to speak of, Silver took her life (courtesy of a drug overdose) in hopes of finding unconditional love in heaven. But the afterlife is more demanding than the young woman anticipated, and she finds herself denied entrance through the pearly gates when she loses in a game show hosted by God, who takes the appearance of a pink haired man in drag.
Silver is forced to constantly wear the same clothes she died in, eat oatmeal for breakfast every morning, and watch a television that broadcasts the people who were in her life on earth as they continue forward. This becomes especially taxing when she sees her ex-boyfriend Sam (Johnny Pacar) dating other girls, as his coping process proceeds with an uncomfortable ease. While in Purgatory House, Silver meets a kindred spirit in Atticis (Devin Witt), who helps make the living conditions slightly more bearable.
This past summer saw the release of the very good Thirteen, a film that also deals with the pressures of teen life and can too claim a teenager (Nikki Reed) as its (co-) author and star. But Thirteen, while clearly presenting a moral to its story, is more a straight documentation of the challenges that cause children to grow up before their time. Purgatory House, on the other hand, aspires to make bigger philosophical statements about the nature of teen despair, and in the process the story often fails to contain the necessary dynamics required to truly engage the viewer.
Too frequently, Purgatory House plays exclusively as a sad girl's melancholy journey of self-discovery. Directed by Cindy Baer, who met Celeste Davis through the Los Angeles Big Sister program, the film embraces an abstract, experimental aesthetic (less forgiving types might call it pretentious), which further underlines the script's creative aspirations and also exposes its shortcomings. There are times, such as when Silver watches her classmates express their cynicism to a counselor who is visiting them in the wake of the girl's suicide, that are easily recognized as coming straight from the mind of a teenager. These on-the-nose scenes, along with some excessively blunt music cues, create the film's paradox: it desires to explore large thematic territory, but is hindered by a storytelling voice which is too underdeveloped at this point to properly channel the message.
There is obviously a lot to admire about Purgatory House, but the praise is more often than not qualified by a mention of its screenwriter's age. Celeste Davis really should be commended for writing such a thoughtful script (and turning in a decent performance too), although she may have been better served with the luxury of working through her artistic growing pains in a more private setting.
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Any comments? I'll probably try to catch the movie sometime soon...but feel free to include spoilers if necessary.