This monumentally dark film is very fine

Rating: 8/10 (7 January 2019)

In Boston, a wee four year old girl, Amanda, has gone missing. Her troubled and careless mother, Helene (Amy Ryan) left the child alone in her second floor apartment for at least an hour and, thus, the girl vanished. Now, the whole city and the neighborhood of Dorchester, is looking for Amanda. In three days, nothing emerges. Very frustrated, Amanda's aunt Bea (Amy Madigan) and her husband Lionel (Titus Welliver), this latter being Helene's brother, ask private detectives and significant others Patrick (Casey Affleck) and Angela (Michelle Moynahan) to join the search. Reluctantly, they do. Police officer Remy (Ed Harris) and his superior, Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) bristle at the addition of the private eyes. Yet, Patrick and Angie immediately turn up clues that Helene lied and is not telling the whole story of her shady, coke-snorting life. Then, too, another child goes missing and notorious kid molesters are back in Boston, somewhere. Will Amanda be found? Alive and well? This monumentally dark film is very fine. The story, based on the superb book by Dennis Lehane, is a repugnant, heart-wrenching, all-too-real tale of woe. As such, director Ben Affleck has kept and darkened the tone, with shots of the downtrodden, ugly persons and venues of Dorchester. There are very few light moments while the cast recreates splendid roles with great skill. MOST IMPORTANTLY, the moral ambiguity and mighty issues that are at the core of the movie will have viewers discussing it till the cows come home and back out again. No, its not a happy film but dedicated movie fans won't want to bypass it.