Now ghost: THIS was a WEIRD movie!!!! 
First off, let me congratulate you for stumbling across this hidden little gem!
Zoe Brooks as the precocious, observant and uber inquisitive 10 year old Betsey Bridges made this film work for me. To date this is her only film credit [where she acts; she has another film credit as a 'Make-up Artist
] and while maybe not a seasoned actress I was captivated by her characterization of Betsey Bridges. I hope she's able to make a couple of more movies before she ages out.
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Weird as it was, I really liked this movie as, again, I enjoyed watching Zoe Brooks onscreen. She has a quiet beauty and charm about her.
What I felt made this film 'weird' was [for me] it's a hard film to categorize. imdb lists it as 'Biography' and 'Drama', but in that respect it's definitely more a 'Bio-pic' as the film uses actors to portray historical figures. There were also elements of 'thriller' and 'dark drama' to it. (At times I even thought there were hints of incest..)
For me, the whole tone of the movie was almost a horror film, with aspects of 'Arthouse' imagery. Even the music lent itself to giving the film this aire: At certain times it would build as the screen would focus on flies and fly larvae or close-ups of certain characters. Other times it would have an ominous tone as the film would bounce from past to present and back..
And Betsey's father's emotions swung to both ends of the spectrum. He was pleasant, charming and a loving, devoted father at times and a cruel, verbally abusive as*hole at other times.
A review I read afterwards called the acting 'sketchy'. I would call it 'stage-y'; as if you were watching a taping of a stage show where the actors are supposed to over-enunciate and use broader actions for audiences viewing from multiple angles... Overall, I felt Zoe Brooks carried the film on her shoulders. The probable focus was her father and his shenanigans, but SHE was the main focus for me, and as I said, she held her own.
Thanks again, for finding this, ghost. Great, WEIRD, little movie!!
kev.
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