Deleted scenes, commentary, featurette, photo gallery, trailer

Elsewhere is directed by Nathan Hope. The film stars Anna Kendrick, Tania Raymonde, Jon Gries, and Chuck Carter. ***

In a small, boring American town, two girls who are friends long to be anywhere else on Earth. One is the typical “girl next door” who is loved by her parents, and a track star at school. The other is just the opposite – sexy and promiscuous, and aiming to use her gifts to get someone to take her out of the town. It isn’t long before the latter girl goes missing, and the town seems suspiciously unconcerned given the girl’s nature. It’s up to her friend to team up with a school nerd and discover who has abducted the other girl. ***

Elsewhere isn’t a perfect film. It’s a bit too mu ch on the talky side, and drags on longer than a thriller has the right to. Plenty of the characters are stereotypes. But, beyond its obvious flaws, this is a gripping tale that kept this reviewer’s attention throughout. ***

The acting in Elsewhere is a hit and miss affair, but most of these young actors rise above what is average writing. I found myself interested in the two main girls from the beginning of the film, and my interest didn’t diminish, even when the film seemed plodding. I actually cared what was going to happen. This isn’t a great film, but it’s certainly better than I expected it to be. ***

Ultimately, Elsewhere succeeds in more areas than it fails. It’s far from a perfect movie, but it creates a striking commentary of our modern-day society, and in this day and age of social networking sites and abductions, it may hit closer to home than you expect. Marginally recommended. If nothing else, Elsewhere will make a solid rental title. ---

Image and Sound:

Disappointingly, the film gets a hit-and-miss transfer. Fine object detail just isn’t too strong, and picture looks soft throughout. Grain is heavy, and is especially distracting in dark, night time scenes. Despite its low-budget nature, you’d expect a modern movie in 1080p to look a little better than this. Audio fares similarly, but that’s largely due to the nature of the movie – this isn’t the kind of product that was meant to rock your speakers. ---

A few very basic special features appear on the disc- your standard, generic “making of” featurette, deleted scenes that were rightfully cut from the film, a photo gallery, and a director/writer commentary. Interesting stuff that fans will enjoy, but you’ll be left wanting more supplements at the same time.

Final Words: