Review of Stephanie

Right upfront, I just want to say this was an enjoyable movie, but for me there was one major flaw, and this was the lack of background story, which is there, but merely hinted at. This leaves you second guessing the unfolding events for at least half the movie. And even when the story starts to be revealed in the background, it still leaves many questions unanswered. Yes, by the end you come to understand the basic premise, but not satisfyingly complete. There are three distinct moods to this movie. The first is the borderline "Home Alone", scenes, with the girl doing as she pleases around the house. You do wonder where the parents are in all this, but then the second phase kicks in and things start getting a little creepy. The biggest discontinuity for me is the jump between this period and the final section. It is never explained, or referred to. The parents suddenly reappear, with no real explanation as to where they have been, and the father building the fence in the garden makes no sense when you finally learn the real story. I don't know whether something was lost in the editing, or this was done intentionally to force the viewer to think, but a little more information would have gone a long way.