Leaving Out Entire Chunks Of The Story Is A Bad Call...

Rating: 5/10 (24 May 2019)

This movie felt extremely rushed. Entire chunks of story were dropped completely, and the whole movie itself was so different from the original book. I questioned if the filmmakers even got permission from Emma Donoghue to turn her book into a movie, because why else would they change literally everything? Yeah the theme was the same, but important little details were changed that really didn't need to be. If you stayed true to the book, it could've been better.
It felt like reading one page out of the book, and then flipping forward 75 pages. I'm biased because yes, I read the book, so obviously I'm connecting the two, but even if I hadn't, I know a rushed movie when I see one. It felt like a student project or like a short film off YouTube. I don't mean to put it down. The story is incredible, I could never imagine going through all that... but the movie adaptation just... didn't do it for me.
The book had me on edge. The book was full of intensity and emotion. I didn't feel that from the movie. The only thing that really got me is when we see just how small the shed is at the end of the movie, from an external POV. Imagine living in there for 7 years--! My issue is just that, so much was left out, and so much was changed. What about Paul, Joy's brother? What about Jack's cousin? Paul and his family were present for almost the entire last third of the book, but they weren't existent in the movie. What about the dog bite? What about Joy and Jack getting an apartment? What about the entire week-long stay at the hospital, all the patients they met? To filmmakers, those may seem like trivial and useless scenes, but to me and I'm sure many others, they were important. I know you only have so much you can shove into a movie... but the obviousness of the rushed state just ruins it. I'm very sorry to say I'll likely never watch it again. I honestly can't even recommend it as I thought I would. I don't doubt this'll get hundreds of thumbs down.
I highly recommend you read the book.