I don't even know what to say
The way everyone behaved was completely surreal. Everyone's reactions were completely numb. Was that the point, that their doll factory existence sapped the life out of all of them?
Scene to scene, everyone's reactions seemed to be:
"Rose was murdered"
"Oh, bummer"
Or:
"Your child is a murderer"
"Oh, bummer"
The characters all felt like you could read them after having been exposed to them for a few minutes. Having the film introduced to me as a "murder mystery", I played "Spot the murderer" and had it pegged right away.
It felt like half the movie was watching the characters sit around eating.
Overall, I felt like the only character development was reenforcement of how numb and alienated they were. The plot was completely formulaic. The ending left me with a feeling of "Uhh, that's it?" and I had to pick up the DVD to discover that, yes, the film is only 70 minutes long, and... just ends.
The people who liked this film... I dunno what to say. If you want a realistic portrayal of how much life sucks for lower class white trash, try Roger and Me. If you want a completely surrealistic portrayal of how much life sucks, try Gummo. If you want a good murder mystery, try Twin Peaks.
This film feels like it was trying to accomplish bits and pieces of all of the above, and ended up a bland, boring mix of all three.
How did this movie get pitched anyway?
"Okay, here's the pitch: a murder mystery where you can spot the murderer in the first 5 minutes of the movie, then when the murder happens you instantly suspect that character, then it turns out that character is actually the murderer, then the movie ends!"
I guess I'm in the "I want my 70 minutes back" crowd