Set in New Mexico, Big Sky focuses on Hazel, an 18 year old girl who suffers crippling agoraphobia and hasn't left her upstairs bedroom for years. She lives with her mother Dee who she isn't particularly close to, and the film opens with Hazel preparing to go on a road trip to a treatment facility to help her deal with her fears and anxiety. She's taken by van where she has to travel in a specially made box to enable her to feel safe, and Dee comes along for the ride to reassure her daughter. Three other people are picked up who are attending the same mental health facility, but on the way there, in the middle of the desert, the van is held up by two gunmen who shoot everyone and kidnap one of the passengers for ransom. Hazel avoids being shot due to being in the box, and she has to face her fears and travel on foot to a nearby reservation to save her mother's life.
I really, really liked the sound of this movie when I went into it, it sounded right up my alley. I really love character driven crime based movies, where it's less action and more of a slow burn character study. I'd read a lot of negative reviews about it beforehand stating it was too slow paced, but personally I thought the pacing was fine and I think anyone stating otherwise is either expecting more of an action movie, or has a really poor attention span. The film is primarily about a girl with crippling agoraphobia, if you think that screams 'fast paced action' then that's your issue.
I've actually dealt with agoraphobia myself, albeit on a much smaller scale then Hazel, and I personally felt that that aspect of the story line was handed really well and I could believe that she actually had it. Unfortunately the writers seemed to get a bit confused and gave her a slew of other random symptoms on top of it that made absolutely no sense - she starts hallucinating a little dead girl at one point, and we get a disjointed flashback scene later in the movie which suggests a tragic event involving the little girl that sparked Hazel's issues but there's no reason or context for Hazel to actually interact with the imaginary little girl other than I assume to make her seem more 'crazy'. She also has symptoms of OCD but it's never stated that she has anything but agoraphobia - obviously these can be co-morbid, but I feel like when you're using mental illness as a major plot point then you shouldn't assume the audience have prior knowledge as there's so much ignorance and misinformation. Overall though, like I said I thought she was a good character and enjoyed seeing her story arc. I also liked the emotional dynamic between Hazel and her mother Dee which managed to continue even when the two characters weren't together.
Most of the film focuses on Hazel trying to reach the reservation, Dee suffering in the car after being shot in the stomach, and the two gunmen who are two of the most intriguing characters ever and I'm SO MAD that they're not explored more and don't have more screen time. I'd watch a whole spin off movie just giving their back story.
Played by Aaron Tveit and Frank Grillo, Pru and Jesse (respectively) are two half brothers, with Jesse caring for Pru who is disabled due to a brain injury he sustained as a child from their mother. It's mentioned in passing that Pru was physically abused by his mother for not being born a girl, and when 5 years old he was hit around the head with a gravel rake and raised by his older brother Jesse ever since. It causes Pru to act erratically as he has issues processing his own emotions and understanding the behaviour of those around him, which is what caused everyone in the van to get shot as he thought Dee laughed at him when in reality she was hysterical from being held at gunpoint. Jesse - who is also the local sheriff, I think?? - is both protective and borderline abusive to this brother, berating him and calling him a "spastic" to get him to comply.
All of this is really fascinating, but it's literally all we're told about them. And it's such a missed opportunity. After they realise they didn't kill Hazel, they decide they have to go back for her, and it's one of many confusing plot points that doesn't make any sense. They were wearing masks, and she saw nothing from the box, so it just feels like they're trying to add some danger to Hazel's situation for the sake of it. It also makes no sense why Jesse would organise a crime and take his mentally disabled brother along, he even said at one point that he knew Pru would mess up and was going to fill his gun with blanks. I really wish he and Pru had more plot. They could of easily added 10-20 minutes onto the run time to give them some more backstory and clear up some of the questions surrounding them, but they were so poorly written that they just didn't go anywhere despite how fascinating the set up is.
The film in general is just so filled with plot holes and inconsistencies that it always leaves me with so many questions. Like, Jesse is constantly reminding Pru to take his pills, but why does Pru have to take them? What do they do? It’s implied he imagines stuff without them, so does he have psychosis? Because that doesn’t match up with symptoms of a brain injury. Is Jesse a real sheriff? Because it looks like a sticker on his name tag, and although it's firmly set in New Mexico he's not wearing a New Mexico police uniform and his state badge is Oklahoma (because yes, I'm that level of extra where I looked it up!) Hazel makes so many questionable decisions like leaving her boots behind when she sprains her ankle - like, you’ve got miles to walk in the desert and you’re going to do it in your socks??? Who is Sergeant De Souza that the guy in the van contacts when he picks up Hazel, is it Jesse? Because Jesse's name badge says "J Pacheco". Who even is that guy in the van, does he actually work for the mental health facility and was it all an inside job? Because he knows who the original driver was and what he called his boss, or was even he in on it too?? I really enjoy this movie, but it has so many loose threads that just don’t get explained and it drives me mad honestly. I love Pru and Jesse so much, I just wish they got a better movie to be in!
This film could of been so good, it was beautifully shot on location, and the main cast did a great job with such a flimsy plot that didn't go anywhere, especially Bella Thorne as Hazel and Aaron Tveit as Pru who were clearly trying their best to give some depth to such underwritten characters. It was watchable and tense in places, I just wish the plot had been properly developed as it had some really fascinating premises and characters but they just got brushed over instead of being explored. And it's not like it's because the film makers were stuck for time, it's only 90 minutes long. I'd of preferred less time watching Hazel stumble around the desert for a fleshed out plot.
I know full well that this is a mediocre movie at best, but I also just love it for some reason and that's OK! A film doesn't have to be technically good to be enjoyable and resonate with you. It's definitely the characters I enjoy more than the film, and in my head I kind of expand on them and give them more story (anyone else do this? I don't mean writing fan fic or anything, just in my imagination as I'm watching). I definitely recommend giving it a watch and judging for yourself, but do expect to be left with more questions than answers at the end!
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