As Affleck carries a great deal of weight in the movie, but its Pniowsky who shines as the young pre-teen learning quickly what it means to be an adult. Often in films, smart and intelligent kids are written as unrealistically smart and intelligent adults. In Light of My Life, Rag is presented smart and intelligent because she innately is, while forced to mature quickly as she starts taking responsibility for herself.
“Rag is presented smart and intelligent because she innately is…”
As far as the film goes, Light of My Life is a pretty simple production. It’s shot outdoors and in a few empty homes and barns. By telling the story through our two protagonists, Affleck is able to effectively create an air of mistrust anytime they meet a stranger and a sense of danger when those strangers arrive at the front door.
What I love about this story and how different it is from your typical zombie, pandemic thrillers. The story is not about the world around them descending into madness, but it’s about a parent who must look past their child’s gender and learn to be interdependent on one another.
"…Dad teaches Rag about periods, racism, and sex in a single setting...""
Is there a part 2
Loved the movie; I almost stopped watching it after 10 minutes because it,s so slow at the beginning but I,m glad I continued to the end. Good storyline even tho I never watch anything sci-fi, aliens etc… Tonight I watched Leave no Trace with Ben Foster; a bit different but still both films dealing with growing issues, between fathers and daughters.
I just finished watching the movie and had tears running down my face. I thought the father daughter relationship was beautiful.
While preparing her for dangerous situations Dad still reserved time for Rag to be a child. I can understand the awkwardness of the puberty talk simply due to the fact that most Father’s prefer not to see their daughters as sexual beings. In light of their circumstances and the simple fact he tries to present her as a boy it’s understandable “the talk” would be an awkward one.
Though we often want to see stories with a tidy ending we can see that the daughter saw herself as a pillar of strength. Through it all, her father protected her and taught her how to be a strong woman. In the end she held him in her arms like she were the parent and he were the child while looking out into the unknown.
It was a beautiful story of love and devotion between a father and his daughter. I loved it.
Did calvin bring the men?
What happened to calvin
Why did Calvin Close the door and not use his Rifle when the three men came to the house? Did he turn them in? Did he rely on his faith? Was he giving up before even fighting. Why did he end up dead. How did they find out they were there. What was the symbology of that. I am annoyed by the lack of clarity there. I thought there were terrific moments in this movie that were very tender and terrifying simultaneously. I liked the storytelling on the dialogue. I do think it fell short and I feel disappointed. I wanted more from this movie than it provided. I don’t wanna a 2nd movie, I just want this one to be a little more generous with backstory, & Character development so we can understand more of their losses.
Interesting movie in some ways.
But disappointing in other ways.
Here’s my list of comments:
(NOTE: possible spoilers)
1. Kinda funny that he erronously told his daughter that menstruation comes ‘out of the pee hole’. And it was left that way – never corrected by the father from reading a book or something.
But I didn’t totally understand his discomfort with the subject of sex because he was so open & forthright with her about every other subject or question. Also, he seemed wise about the wilderness – (reproduction would naturally be a subject of conversation) but other than fish, there seem to be no birds or wild life at all – did the plague affect them too? (the sheep survived at the farm)
Anyway, the dad seemed too hip-of-a father to flounder so badly in this conversation. Maybe this scene was meant as a statement illustrating just how little some men really know about the mechanics of reproduction?
Which brings me to point number 2;
The child’s nickname was ‘Rag’ . . . you see what I’m sayin’? I KNOW we are finally told that it’s an affectionate name short for ‘Raggedy Anne’, but still . . . the word has long been a rather disgusting & derogatory word for a woman’s period. I just also don’t fully understand why anyone would think that was a good choice for a nickname, especially for a girl, especially in that strange circumstance. I can’t help but think ahead to what she would think of it when she’s older, if she ever survived to be around people again, or was taken by males. Again, was it a statement?
3. A lot of reviews mention how the movie drags on – but I found that the pace did work very well make you feel the daily drudgery, worry, and suspense of their lifestyle – which made it more realistic.
I liked the fight scenes the dad had. They were not cut & dried, quick heroic scenes, nor was any choreography obvious. The fights seemed totally real, desperate, and sloppy and the dad suffered more after each bout.
4. The male populated areas did not seem realistic. If Afflek wanted to make the towns or populated areas realistic – he should’a had some guys in drag – bc anywhere males-only are dwelling together that is the M.O. – which of course certainly would have created a lot of questions from the child . . .
Maybe there should have been a little more backstory?
Maybe Affleck will write a full on book.
5. Because – other than the fact that all we know is a plague killed females, we don’t really know how it affected males. Did it reduce their drive? It is insinuated that the situation made them worse. But in the town scenes, and the two scenes where men came to the houses, and even the 3 older men, all the males shown seemed sort of lethargic, calm & quiet. I still dont understand why the 3 older men were not handily prepared to defend themselves. The bad guy in the attic only had a hammer. One had no weapon.
Strange!
5. I hated the ending. Sometimes movies that leave you hanging allow for a lot of great conversation and ideas about what might happen. But this one left way too much empty space.
Again, I think it must be a statement about that particular society. I mean, there are really only a few options:
the dad eventually dies by murder or something, and the child either dies, gets taken, or survives by living like a wild animal for the rest of her life.
I know the dad mentions a safe place – but it just seems like in his exhaustion, and to create hope, he entertains that unrealistic idea.
Also, when she vomits it’s insinuated that she does so frequently – so by implication are we to understand she may die from residual plague or be building immunity to fight it?
In every situation it’s interesting how the father both explains & displays the desperation of their situation & is so forthright with plans, while not being able to fully explain reproduction, and all at the same time, holding back reality from his daughter in several areas to the point of creating fairy tales, which I suppose he does to prevent her from feeling terror every moment which she certainly would if she knew what would happen to her in the hands of the evil men.
Very human juggling that dad!
Finally, it’s interesting to think what you would do in such a situation.
My instinct would be to teach her how to kill herself if she fell into the hands of horrible people.
How do you think you could survive & protect?
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