Echo (2011, Lewis Arnold)
Echo (2011, Lewis Arnold) really failed to impress me based on the fact I didn't find any of the characters at all likeable. I thought the main character, Caroline, a young girl trying to scam people out of money by pretending her father got into a car accident was insufferable. Initially, when we are positioned to be watching the first scam, not knowing she is faking it, I felt bad for the character, however as soon as it is revealed that the accident in fact is not true, as an audience member I felt extremely alienated from what was happening. I didn't find her character interesting to watch, I thought the way she spoke to her family further pushed away viewers which was all leading to her being so unlikable. Once you find out something in the narrative which you expect to be true isn't, it is hard to re-establish that trust with the viewer.
Even her little brother was difficult to have any relationship with, purely because he is barely in the film. There isn't enough time to form any sort of emotional bond with a character you hardly see. The longest extent to which he is in the film is when we expect him to get hit by a passing car as he bikes out of their garage, which was slightly foreshadowed by the 'car accident' narrative of Caroline's scam, thankfully he doesn't but this does feel like a slight anti-climax. It would provide so much character depth to Caroline if what she had been lying about actually happened to her little brother. Later on, her brother watches her trying to take money from someone else using her 'dad's car accident' story and reveals that this did, in fact, happen, and ever since Caroline has been re-living it as a way to make some extra cash.
Following this revelation, we watch Caroline act out this narrative again, only this time the camera is shaky and slow moving, Caroline appears much more panicked and unknowing, she appears to be in much more a state of stress than we have previously seen her - this time it feels real. The audience are not told whether this was real or not, and are left wondering as to whether Caroline ever gets caught out and in trouble with the police. It appears to me as a very un-tied ending; there is no real conclusion and in that, no real audience gratification.
Even her little brother was difficult to have any relationship with, purely because he is barely in the film. There isn't enough time to form any sort of emotional bond with a character you hardly see. The longest extent to which he is in the film is when we expect him to get hit by a passing car as he bikes out of their garage, which was slightly foreshadowed by the 'car accident' narrative of Caroline's scam, thankfully he doesn't but this does feel like a slight anti-climax. It would provide so much character depth to Caroline if what she had been lying about actually happened to her little brother. Later on, her brother watches her trying to take money from someone else using her 'dad's car accident' story and reveals that this did, in fact, happen, and ever since Caroline has been re-living it as a way to make some extra cash.
Following this revelation, we watch Caroline act out this narrative again, only this time the camera is shaky and slow moving, Caroline appears much more panicked and unknowing, she appears to be in much more a state of stress than we have previously seen her - this time it feels real. The audience are not told whether this was real or not, and are left wondering as to whether Caroline ever gets caught out and in trouble with the police. It appears to me as a very un-tied ending; there is no real conclusion and in that, no real audience gratification.
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