Some people are going to dislike this simply because it doesn’t give you all the answers, or rather, it doesn’t spell the answers out for you. But, knowing all the answers wouldn’t change what the film is really interested in (i.e. social mobility and bias in the American school system) , so I’m perfectly fine with the ambiguity in this case. I think it hints just enough at what happened in order to leave you fulfilled. The acting is also very solid, particularly from the lead guy. However, the pacing could’ve been better, and the storyline with the girlfriend feels like a detractor. 7/10

I believe what separates this movie from other movies (Crash comes to mind) is that it doesn't beat the viewer over the head with a singular issue. It's been a couple of days since I watched the film and I still have it rolling around in my head. I love how I've had to contemplate the events of the movie to even begin to come up with the questions, let alone the possible answers to those questions. Like a good western there were no good characters vs. bad characters. Every action had a context that isn't necessarily readily apparent. This force the viewer to constantly re-assess what they are seeing on the screen. I wish there were more movies like this. If you left this film trying to figure out the ending or wondering why there weren't more answers you completely missed the point. follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies

Although this is not an action packed movie, it does leave enough suspense. Overall I really liked the movie, however it’s very slow, like I feel they could have cut the movie in half and still make the same point. It really depicts the unfairness of life, which the lead—despite being in favor—hates and returns the favor to those impossing the unfairness. Not a must-watch, but definitely more than good enough to check out.

A toned down version of *We Need to Talk About Kevin* with some strong themes on identity, existentialism, race and lots of moral questionning. Very psychological and dramatic but why is this under thriller? It ain't no thriller! The character study and manipulation games are interesting but again, it isn't even close to the level of *We Need to Talk About Kevin*. Ms. Wilson (Octavia Spencer) was the most interesting character to me, whenever she was on-screen it really elevated the movie. The parents (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth) were filler material. I like the hip-hop soundtrack. The eventual unfoldment of what these characters turn out to be in the end was what kept me interested but I kept getting bored in some parts. It gets repetitive. It's also extremely predictable from the first 30 minutes. A predictable story is fine in some cases but then you need to surprise me with how far you actually take it. With the thriller genre in the description, I was thinking they would take it pretty far and shocking—they did not. The themes are very relevant though, makes you think outside the box.

I was glued to this the entire time. The acting was phenomenal, across the board. I would imagine some won't like the social commentary aspect of it, but if you are the type of person who gets sucked into movies with well written and developed characters, you will enjoy this. I just finished watching and I think it's going to take a day or two to fully digest the power of this film. At its core, it's a simple story but the between-the-lines undertones was weaved through it brilliantly. The casting folks deserve kudos as there wasn't a weak link in choice for any of the roles, even the minor ones.