It seems the bad reviews are coming from those that are appalled with the concept, so their views may be slightly skewed. They talk about bad acting by the sisters, which would be true if they weren't portraying teenagers, so many times I was reminded of girls I knew in high school. The lack of real emotion, the "zig zagging back and forth" of their emotional states, etc. is all pretty common for teenagers, especially girls... Considering what they were going through, it wouldn't have seemed right if their wasn't some back and forth in terms of intent and how they felt about the whole thing. It was their mom, so of course they would have had second thoughts and maybe searching for some reason or sign to restore a little faith in her.
The character of the a-hole boyfriend was a bit over the top, and should have been toned down and have some build up, instead of having him immediately attack Beth. I mean within seconds he's all over her, it is a bit too much. It felt like the writer used him to make the audience feel empathy for the girls, not small "Well maybe I can see their side" empathy, but a "Whoa! They don't have any choice but to kill her now!!!" type of empathy.
Perhaps it could have been better written and there are some parts that are annoying, but those are likely going to be different for most people, as it is with every movie- personal preference. All in all the movie was very watchable for me, though it felt like they didn't want us feeling negatively about the girls at all, so any situation that could create a little empathy is amped up to create a lot of it. After watching it I thought to myself that if they were my friends I wouldn't hold it against them. I then saw a statement by the author of the book saying that they left out how cold and calculating they were. Then I read a bit about the real story and feel much less sympathy for them now. Though I wish they were more true to the real story, I still enjoyed it.
The character of the a-hole boyfriend was a bit over the top, and should have been toned down and have some build up, instead of having him immediately attack Beth. I mean within seconds he's all over her, it is a bit too much. It felt like the writer used him to make the audience feel empathy for the girls, not small "Well maybe I can see their side" empathy, but a "Whoa! They don't have any choice but to kill her now!!!" type of empathy.
Perhaps it could have been better written and there are some parts that are annoying, but those are likely going to be different for most people, as it is with every movie- personal preference. All in all the movie was very watchable for me, though it felt like they didn't want us feeling negatively about the girls at all, so any situation that could create a little empathy is amped up to create a lot of it. After watching it I thought to myself that if they were my friends I wouldn't hold it against them. I then saw a statement by the author of the book saying that they left out how cold and calculating they were. Then I read a bit about the real story and feel much less sympathy for them now. Though I wish they were more true to the real story, I still enjoyed it.