White Bird in a Blizzard (2014) review

Shailene Woodley might only be twenty-three years old, yet she has already given a series of truly amazing performances. It feels like she always brings a part of herself into her characters, no matter how different each time they may be. And her role in White Bird in a Blizzard is not an exception. To be precise, Woodley’s performance is the best thing Gregg Araki’s film has to offer, even though her character is not as memorable as other roles she has played. Besides the talented actress, however, the film proves to be rather weak.

It would be considerably interesting to watch a film which never reveals in what direction it’s going to move next, as long as the film itself knows! Unfortunately, White Bird in a Blizzard feels disoriented: it is not the atmospheric thriller it sometimes tries to be, nor does it use very effectively the element of mystery as a disguise for a coming-of-age drama. The script never manages to make Woodley’s character likeable enough for us to actually care for her, while the finale seems to mostly focus on the mystery side of the story rather than the drama, unlike the rest of the film. The biggest mistake, however, Araki makes is that he chooses to conclude the film with an epilogue which explains -in a far more straightforward way than expected (and needed)- everything that could have remained subtly hinted. And it feels like a letdown, since it was the film’s subtlety that made it interesting in the first place.

(2 out of 5 spinning tops)