MovieChat Forums > Acolytes (2009) Discussion > Poorly Structured; Writers AWOL -- Spoil...

Poorly Structured; Writers AWOL -- Spoiler

posted 15 years ago by Doctor-of-Nothing
8 replies | jump to latest

The long lethargic first act of this film is rather good: Evocatively shot, nicely observed, well performed. Then the silences and simmering grievances give way to a flurry of frantic "I Know Who You Are And I Saw What You Did" plotting, "Last Summer" style jealousy and a major relationship that develops completely off-screen. The rest is just plain silly and the denouement completely unearned. It is also emotionally and developmentally counter-intuitive to what has preceded it with characters behaving the way the writers need them to behave solely so they can slap a nasty ending on the film.

For example: why in the world would Mark lead his friends into the woods to dig up the body that he killed? At no point is it at all evident (visually, psychologically, schematically) that the character wants to 'confess'.

[–] GeneticSugarKane 15 years ago

You must have been on cruise for awhile there.

The body that Marc led his friends to was NOT the body of the girl he accidentally killed (aka Tanya Lee). You should have an idea of what you're talking about before you criticize the writing.

[–] WesterMats 15 years ago

Didn't they go into the woods looking for Tanya Lee, though, and didn't Mark think she would be buried somewhere there?

[–] GeneticSugarKane 15 years ago

No. Mark knew where Tanya Lee was buried, because he and Gary buried her. (It can be argued that he didn't really feel he did anything wrong because he had never actually intended to kill her.)

He takes his friends into the woods in order to dig up whatever it was he saw the serial killer burying... and it happened to be a corpse. That is why the killer refers to Mark as an "acolyte" in the film's end. He tries to convince Mark that he was the makings of a serial killer (due to Mark's treatment of Tanya Lee).

[–] El_Guapo_Caballo 15 years ago

so, if not tanya lee, whos corpse is it then? or is it supposed to be just some random sranger?

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[–] GeneticSugarKane 14 years ago

Just one of many victims of the crazy couple.

[–] profweetos 14 years ago

Very likely to be a canadian hitch-hiker (remember the flag...)

[–] bill9340 14 years ago

It sounds like a lot of people thought that was Tayna Lee. But right when they find the body, Chaslie says "It's Tanya Lee" & Mark says "No it not, it's someone else." I remember wondering how he knew, but never really thought anything about it. Then later Mr. Wright captures a hitchhiker & talks about not taking anyone who would be missed, so he had been burying a hitchhiker when Mark saw him.

By the way, I loved it. It had a mood that is almost never captured here in America by American film makers.

[–] timlin-4 12 years ago

I think he was happy to have a chance to get the Tanya Lee case shut, but then he was even happier to get Parker and James killed? Though he wasn't much of acolyte, so maybe he was just dumb.