The Amaranth

source: The Amaranth

The premise of this thriller is interesting and fairly original, but somehow it didn't live up to its potential. That is mainly due to the very slow pace and the lack of any serious action. It's all in the atmosphere, that is supposed to be sinister and creepy, but even that didn't really come about. What didn't help was Melora Walters as the intelligent and suspicious heroine Lily, she constantly acted cranky, sulky or angry, treated her well-meaning old husband (a fine role by Richard Kendrick) condescending, and had an irritating, slurry way of talking, as if she was constantly under the influence of downers. After some 70 minutes Lily (and we) out of the blue got all the answers to the mysteries (as if the leading doctor of the facility suddenly decided to make a clean sweep!), and after that there is a weird sort of epilogue, in which we see how formerly outraged and indignant Lily a few years later nevertheless drops her principles when it suits her own benefit. It could have been a strong, cynical ending, if it hadn't been presented so abrupt and out of the blue, it looked like either an afterthought of someone in the production who was able to force it into the movie, or as if some substantial material was lost on the cutting table.

For once, I agree with the overall Imdb rating of this movie; it was palatable. An interesting, if unoriginal story, unfolds with enough mystery to keep you watching until the end. Melora Walterns was a new face to me, but she held up her acting part with skill. Jeffery DeMunn has one of those unpleasant faces that would make a great villain, but in this movie he just looks senile and demented. IMO Christopher Denham's heart-shaped face doesn't convey enough malice for the role, so not a good casting choice, but he did a decent job nonetheless. Brandon Scott was a good choice for the role, and he was great in it. I enjoyed the story twist at the end, as it's more realistic, with none of that pretense of a happy ending that most Hollywood movies end with.

This started off promising, and later became weird. An old couple move into a really plush retirement home called Amaranth, which looks like a glitzy holiday resort. The main character Lily is about 60 years old without a single grey hair. She must dye her hair, After she visits her elderly father in an ordinary care home, she discovers that something is wrong with Amaranth. The people don't look as old as they should. Certain things don't make sense and there are grotesque scenes, one of them is the pig meat. An anti climax end.

Elderly wealthy industrialist Richard Kendrick (the always excellent Jeffrey DeMunn) and his wife Lily (a fine and credible performance by Melora Walters) move into an isolated luxury community where the rich and powerful live their twilight years with incredible vitality. Naturally, said community is harboring a dark secret. Director Albert Chi relates the absorbing story at a gradual pace, takes time to develop the main characters, grounds the fantastic premise in a believable everyday reality, and nicely captures a quietly unsettling sense of something sinister happening just underneath a deceptively pleasant surface. The smart script by Eileen Shields asks a profound and provocative central question: How far would you go to live a longer and healthier life? The low-key manner the story gets told in gives this picture an extra chilling plausibility. Moreover, the sound acting by the capable cast keeps this movie humming: Christopher Denham as outwardly amiable (not so) mad scientist Dr. Alan Campbell, Shiva Negar as the sweet Mia, Brandon Scott as friendly butler Arthur, Susan Sullivan as cheery administrator Patsy Howard, and Harley Jane Kozak as perky yoga instructor Holly. A neat little film.

While it seems like it's going to become a melodramatic, supercilious Lifetime type movie, it ends up treating a dicey subject a pretty objectively, giving the viewer an opportunity to form their own opinion, which I find refreshing in an era when every movie and TV show seems like imperious operant conditioning for convicted thought criminals.

One of the worst movies I've ever seen in an ocean of bad films each year. It's slow, boring and almost everyone is in their 80s. The lead actress is referred to as a "young woman" who doesn't fit in at the retirement community called Amaranth, but she looks like she's in her early 60s. She ends up pregnant by her geriatric husband. Unlike Rosemary's Baby, the big reveal here---after enduring dreary scenes of old ladies talking about their face lifts and watching people play dominoes---turns out to be nothing. The evil doctor is giving hormones and transplanting organs to keep the residents youthful. That's it. Go watch grass grow. It will be more entertaining.

Overall, I felt this was a very good movie. You do not have to be an A listed male or female actor to give an extremely good performance; you just have to have the opportunity to do so. But, as I sat though the viewing of the film, my mind drifted back to the 1970s for an oddly similar movie and the only one I could come up with was the original Stepford Wives.

There are things in this film I liked a lot - at the beginning. But the film never really builds to a climax. It is long and slow and you have to pay close attention. It sorta lost my interest and honestly I have no idea what was going on towards the end. I just remember this made me feel depressed. :(

So Dale and Lily, they move to some assisted living home? The Amaranth. WoW! What a place. Amazing. Apparently Dale had a stroke. And Wife Lily wants him to receive the best of care, as only filthy rich people can get! You know you're not in Kansas anymore when the butler breaks out the dominoes. Everyone should really know how to play dominoes. That's a fact. Ruh Roh, one night out in the dining room with a group of fellow partiers, Dale has some sort of heart attack and Lily has to pull the emergency alarm. Dale has to have emergency bypass surgery , which apparently this Dr. Campbell is well equipped to do right there on the premises. Nice to be rich eh?? After this heart attack, they have a new butler when they come back from the hospital. Lily is concerned that Arthur the old butler might have been fired because of the night of the heart attack he didnt come running when Lily called for him. Dale is getting around much better after this surgery than he had for a long time. He even turns it up a notch for his wife Lily!!! Lily is finding that she is having problems 'keeping up' with Dale. Dale is more active, sexually with Lily, and also more physically active. Riding horses, etc. Lily consults with Dr. Campbell, as to what is going on. And she doesn't seem happy about what little answers she's getting. And then Lily packs a bag. She's not used to Dale acting so....young. Weird she never even really talked to Dale about how she felt at all, she just packs up to leave. But Dale begs her to stay and stay she does. Then they attend some other event and Lily has her appendix burst. She wakes up in bed, having had surgery and also getting new news. Lily is Pregnant!!! And Lily makes up with her estranged father, who is in some other home. At this home Lily meets Shirley, the daughter of one of the other residents at the Amaranth. The other resident at the Amaranth appears even younger than the daughter Shirley!!! So what is going on here???? As we find out, at the Amaranth, they are buying healthy organs from younger donors / patients and transplanting them into these old people. They transplanted a younger womAN's womb into Lily , to get her pregnant with Dale and her own child. When Lily finds out , she is outraged. But what does she do?? Fast forward to years later, Lily has had her young daughter, and apparently the daughter has some problems of her own and has only a year to live. Lily returns to the Amaranth, where Dr. Campbell says he believes he can help the young girl. So what we end up with is a question or morality and / or ethics. T he organ transplanting is not really illegal, but is it immoral?? Obviously Lily was against it at first but of course she wanted her own daughter to live. Everyone wants their own children to live. Basically there wasn't a lot of ups or downs to this movie so I'm just leaving it as a 5/10