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Rain
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 7 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Christine Jeffs
Kirsty Gunn (novel)
Directed by: Christine Jeffs
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 26, 2002
DVD: February 11, 2003
Running Time: 92 minutes, Color
Origin: New Zealand / USA
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki, Sarah Peirse, Marton Csokas, Alistair Browning, Telma Hopkins, and Aaron Murphy
A chronicle of the sexual and moral awakening of a thirteen-year-old girl as her family disintegrates around her.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Sunshine Cleaning
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official New Zealand Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The New York Times Dana Stevens
The visual beauty of the film, rather than distracting from the troubling story, makes it more troubling still.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
All about undertones, obliqueness and expectancy, about the scent, if you will, of something no one can stop
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Moves way past the predictable into the shocking. Indeed, the film is so expertly structured and paced that its denouement knocks you off your feet.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Through exquisite details, evocative music and bold dramatic strokes -- including a tragedy that transcends the melodrama it might have been -- Rain renders this family's life in its full dimensions.
Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan
Quiet, sexual, disturbing, often beautifully melancholic, Rain, as seen through the eyes of a precocious girl, recalls a parental split-up with sobering accuracy. It reminds us why so many teen-agers go through a sullen phase -- and sometimes never shake it off.
Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
A character who triumphs over a clumsy story line is a very rare creature. It takes a smart director and a sensitive actor to bring him to life, and to keep him breathing all the way through.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
What lingers are the unsettling feelings, inexplicably potent images and realization that some of life's key crossroads are visible only in the rearview mirror.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Movies about the dawning of female sexuality and its links to mother-daughter competition are tough to pull off, but Rain is a splendid example of how to get it right.
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
The cast of Rain is first-rate, especially Wierzbicki and Peirse, whose tense relationship is as loving as it is competitive.
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Jeffs is an unusually gifted director, but her screenplay (based on Kirsty Gunn's novel) never quite gets a firm grip or a fresh perspective on its coming-of-age subject matter.
Read Full Review >New York Post Megan Lehmann
Some of the visual flourishes are a little too obvious, but restrained and subtle storytelling, and fine performances make this delicate coming-of-age tale a treat.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Adapted from Kirsty Gunn's acclaimed novel, New Zealand director Christine Jeff's debut feature is a small masterpiece of atmosphere.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Manohla Dargis
Jeffs' meticulous framing nicely counterpoints all the messy turmoil, and her screenplay flows with the cadences of life -- its awkward eruptions and long, hurtful silences -- but she never pulls you deep enough into her characters.
Read Full Review >New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf
Heavy with mood and Finn's fine music, Jeffs' debut feature merely moistens us when we should be soaked. Maybe next time she'll let it all come down.
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
As it moves from the drizzly to the overly stormy, Rain freights a young girl's self-destructive eagerness to lose her virginity with so much danger and even horror that it's as if the events were trying to make up for the film's previous lack of drama.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Rain lays so much portent on every scene that it becomes ungenerous and morally forbidding, as if each bummed cigarette or leisurely cocktail will lead the family that much closer to oblivion. In this case, the punishment is far greater than the crime.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
Sexual curiosity is a very dangerous thing in Rain, a dazzling mood piece from New Zealand filmmaker Christine Jeffs.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Jessica Winter
The visual subtleties don't come to bear on the storytelling, unfortunately -- the dialogue is cumbersome, the simpering soundtrack and editing more so.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jonathas S. gave it a9:
It's a amazing film about discoverings with great actors.
Tracy R gave it a6:
Craftfully and carefullly done - and I very much appreciate this, but I think we've hit the point of one too many sex = death scenarios. Enough already! Let's say something other than that female sexuality is dangerous. Disappointed to see women continuing to do this to other women.
alissa gave it an 8:
All I'm going to say is that you'll need a bloody stiff drink after watching this. Oh, and the soundtrack is amazing.
My Friends Call Me Gilbert Mulroneycakes gave it an 8:
Oh GOD...MAKE IT STOP! Not that it's a bad film (sob) or anything, it's just (howl of despair) so damn HEAVY. (scream) Beware. But watch (sobs again) it (smacks head against wall repeatedly) anyway.
Chad S. gave it a 10:
Something happens in "Rain" that could've made "Mermaids" a classic film. But when it does, you want to look away. Director Christine Jeffs pulls off the most gut-wrenching denouement in recent memory. It's fictitious. The job of great art is to suspend your disbelief and accept the representative as real. The actors are uniformly good but the real star is the woman yelling, "Cut!" She's able to enthrall with material that would depress in lesser hands. "Rain" is the best film of 2002. It's a gem.
L. Y. gave it a 10:
A disturbing movie unfolding beautifully and slowly enough to appear ordinary, even banal, which as an afterthought disturbs even more. Excellent screenwriting and directing job, brilliant acting all around. A must see.
