I recently saw The Lovely Bones a film based on the book of the same name by Alice Sebold. I have not read the book, but the film has inspired me to do so.

I will try not to add any spoilers to this entry beyond what is already known via the promotional material.

To be honest I went in with a bit of trepidation because of the subject matter. 2009 was such a horrible year for me that I have purposely looked for either lighthearted entertainment or pure fantasy to escape with. I was not sure how I would feel about a movie that revolves around the brutal rape, and murder of a young teenage girl.

The film gives us a glimpse into the pain, and chaos a family goes through in losing a child to such a senseless crime, as well as the perspective of the victim as she matures within an interpretation of an afterlife.

The segments of Susie in the afterlife, and her influence on the living's thoughts, and affairs were of particular interest to me as a psychical researcher. While the film is fictional the beliefs expressed through the film of some sort of "in-between heaven" that is affected by the surviving consciousness are not that uncommon. I personally thought these scenes were done well, but might be confusing for viewers that do not share these beliefs or understand them.

By the time the film had ended I was surprised to realise that this was as close to a feel good movie as one could get considering the horror that the lead character, and her surviving family had to endure.

In my opinion the film could have been made better. Considering the subject I should have felt a gut wrenching emotional response, which I did not. Although I would be lying if I did not admit it did provoke some tears as I too was a child of the 70's and could relate to Susie, who was played brilliantly by Saoirse Ronan.

It is a gentle film, that did in my opinion get the story's point across without being exploitive of a very touchy subject, and I am not sorry that I saw it.