Rent Trauma (2016)

Would have been more enjoyable if the characters had been more likeable. - Trauma review by NP

I wonder just how difficult it is to make a juvenile character interesting without also making her the kind of brat you would like to throttle. I’m speaking hypothetically in case anyone is worried I’m encouraging child abuse. But after spending all morning telling her mother how bored she is in her company, little Alice (Lola Flanery) goes on to tell her, “I expect ice cream,” and mum Jane (Abbie Cornish) looks on adoringly. To cheer the child up, Jane will then confide little secrets to the girl about how daddy wets the bed when he’s drunk too much. So the pecking order is laid down. The brat makes the rules, and when mum gets frustrated, dad – who is well meaning but a bit thick – gets the brunt of it.

It’s such a shame, because these characters provide the heart of what is a fairly interesting psychological horror thriller – but if the audience is not allowed to like these people, they don’t care what befalls them. And really, little Alice takes every opportunity to test the patience constantly.

It all comes good in the end though (or does it? That would be telling) and through their frightening situations, the characters become seemingly improved. And this story does have some very good moments. How much more involving it would be, though, if the main players had been more likeable from the beginning? 6 out of 10.