The cinematography was great! Really great. The opening scene and the ending scene were similar and it gave me the impression that regardless of everything, life goes on. The story was amazing. Focusing on more than one character, the movie showed me various stories. The characters of the kids were realistic, they looked like any other kid. I can say that, in terms of their background stories, there were too many abuse stories. A childhood in a group home without an abusive background is equally traumatizing. There should have been a focus on one kid without abuse.
Grace was awesome. She is a good example of the people that care for youth in group homes. Sometimes I wondered if her dedication was realistic. She followed a traumatized teen to her home, a trip that must have taken hours. She stays at the hospital after another teen attempts suicide with his very own blood on her shirt. She even smashes the windows of an abusive fathers car with a baseball bat, only after she decides not to smash his face.
I loved Marcus’ background story. It was realistic and his situation happens to many other youth. It was obvious that he didn’t have a place to go when he turned 18. He tried to commit suicide with his glass fish bowl which give rise to the question: Do group homes allow glass fish bowls? A glass fish bowl is similar to ten glass weapons.
The movie did not make me cry. Probably because I’ve seen these situations before and not in a movie, but in real life. It think this movie captures the stories of foster youth in the most realistic way and everyone can learn from this movie.
By Bonita Tindle, a Journalism for Social Change Fellow. She is in her third year at San Francisco State University.