MovieChat Forums > Henry Gamble's Birthday Party (2016) Discussion > Like walking into the middle of a conver...

Like walking into the middle of a conversation

posted 8 years ago by Hushpuppy_20
1 reply | jump to latest

I enjoyed this film while at the same time felt it could have been done much much better.

I understand everyone had their "story" but waiting until the last 30 minutes to reveal truths, plot, etc. was a mistake. It left the first hour full of meaningful glances, hinted stories and a lot of filler material. Things get intense at about the hour mark and then the film wraps up before anything is really fleshed out. Ambiguity is OK but it went on for too long!

[–] jlprizm86 7 years ago

Yup. You summed it up nicely. We as the audience don't know what any of the pauses and stares mean so we're left to wonder what the secrets are and how everyone is connected. Instead of slowly revealing some of them it just keeps going and you're left even more confused up until the end when everything just sort of gets resolved. There is no time to develop the resolutions of any of the characters because it just ends and you are left feeling like the time you spent watching the rest of the movie didn't amount to much. I also feel like it was a case of too many character's storylines. Not enough time is spent on any of them and the film ends up feeling empty. Some of the acting was pretty good but other than that it just wasn't done that well story-wise.