i'm not really used to watching this genre of movies a lot, where the story is grounded in the lives of normal people who're going through something—like a focused character study. nonetheless, it's still an experience getting this glimpse of unsaid emotions told through actions. i'm bad at reading between the lines in movies where the things that are being said are never said out loud, but it's a learning curve. i really liked nora as a character, and the bond she had with her sister agnes. elle fanning's rachel kemp turned out to be a surprisingly empathetic persona in the movie. gustav was also an interesting man. i like the way that the movie touches upon the hurt that runs in this family being generational. gustav's mother's history as a tortured prisoner during ww2 was a bleak but real point in this movie, and i'm just glad that the generational cycle was broken by the end. the ending scene with nora filming the one-take for gustav's film was pretty cool. and i also liked the opening scene of the movie that personifies the house as it is described in nora's essay. rachel reads a monologue from gustav's script in one scene, but when nora reads the same thing later in the movie, it hits harder somehow. i did get a teensy bit emotional at that point. it's interesting that this absent father who nora thought didn't understand her somehow knew her hurt and her feelings all along.
