On 3/26/2018 at 2:50 PM, AnnieHeights said:

I had no sympathy for Moonee's mother Hayley, I believed she loved her daughter but the way she raised her and the things she taught her were appalling.  She was a taker and was teaching her daughter to be the same way.  The scenes where people were lined up to receive the free groceries, Moonee snatched the things she wanted without a thought of being thankful, asking adults for money for ice cream and lying about the reasons, etc.  Ashley got more of my empathy because she recognized her son would keep getting into trouble if he continued hanging around Moonee and she (Ashley) at least held down a job and was giving them free food up until she had enough of Haley

I kind of loved that the movie gave us two examples of poverty-stricken mothers- one who is genuinely trying to make her situation better (and might actually do it eventually), and one who is pretty much stuck in the gutter with no real desire to get herself out of it. I'm sure Hayley's mother was exactly the same way, hence the "circle of poverty."

In my fantasy ending, Moonee will wind up with decent foster parents who put her on a decent path.

I remember being horrified at the revelation that all those shots we saw of Moonee taking her bath to loud music were really the times that Hayley was turning tricks. I did like the casting of Hayley- those tats are real and the actress looked rode hard and put away wet. They didn't cast a dewey young ingenue and give her a make-up job to look rough, like with Emma Stone as a drug addict in Birdman. Bria Vitale just felt really authentic as someone who lives her life in a drugged up haze and is taking her daughter down with her. And I like that they don't try to redeem her- she's defiant right to the end, dumping out Moonee's clothes on the bed and refusing to help.

Anyway...I hope Caleb Landry gave his  agent a big hug. He managed to get into three movies that were all nominated for Oscars in one year. I kind of wish we had seen a bit more of the son, though.

As for Brooklyn Prince, I really hope she can manage to get a career out of this. Sometimes you're lucky and the big break as a child star can work (Jacob Tremblay definitely seems poised for bigger things and Wonder proved he isn't a fluke) and sometimes you just can't find the right next role. (Quvenzhané Wallis, although she might still find her next great role. I was not sure about Hailee Steinfield until Edge of 17 proved to me that her Oscar nomination as a kid wasn't a fluke.)

ncG1vNJzZmien6fCrr%2BNqamipZWptq6x0WeaqKVfqbyxtcJobWxpYGV6tbTEZp2lp6KesaJ5z6umo52TqXpzfJBwZg%3D%3D