Movie Reviews

Movie Review: “A Violent Separation” Is A Great Suspenseful Story But Could Have Used A Better Ending


 

Two brothers struggle with a terrible truth behind a tragedy that aims to tear three generations of a family apart.

When Ray (Ben Robson) accidentally shoots and kills his girlfriend Abbey (Claire Holt) while driving, he panics and hides her body in the woods. He calls his brother Norman (Brenton Thwaites) who is the sheriff, to help him cover up the murder. When Abbey never returns home and a neighbor calls in about an abandoned car near the lake, Norman and Ray stick together and keep the incident a secret to keep them both out of jail.

Another officer Ed (Ted Levine) is called to the scene of the crime and from there he obsessively tries to figure out what really happened. The story takes off not long after Abbey’s funeral when Frances (Alycia Debman-Carey). who is Abbey’s sister, finally gives in to her feelings for Norman and they eventually become married. About a year has passed since her sister’s death when she begins to feel like something just isn’t right, meanwhile, Ray is falling apart with the guilt of having to hide what he has done. While Frances begins to look for clues and Ed keeps retracing steps trying to put the pieces together, Ray threatens to turn himself in. Norman does everything he can to prevent Ray from confessing because he knows that revealing the truth will ruin his life, career and entire family. Ed finds the ultimate clue in the case, Frances finally figures everything out and Ray has completely lost his mind.

The film explodes with a shocking ending but then just drives slowly off a cliff. I loved the story and I invested in the characters. I believed the strong bond between the brothers and I loved the building of the relationship between Norman and Frances because it set us up for how hard the betrayal is when Frances finds out that Norman has kept the secret about her sister’s death the whole time. I loved everything about the film but the ending just left me hanging. I feel like the writer just wanted the story to end. I just wished it could have ended differently, but overall, a great film.

 

In theaters and On Demand Friday, May 17th

 

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Malika Harris

Malika is a Writer from NYC who loves movies and talking about them.