This review has spoilers in it. I gave this film 6/10 because the script was not bad but there were some scenes in the film that I hated. I think the character of Eve was somewhat likable but the director and screenwriter made her obnoxious in the scene where Eve tells her sister that "she has blood in her pants" which refers to Cisely getting her period. Another scene that made Eve annoying is when she curses at her mother. Granted, the mother in the film is annoying, I think Eve saying "God d**nit" was too awful for a child to be saying on film. What irked me about the film was the ending. The father was lied on by Cisely and she accused him (falsely) of trying to kiss her and make a sexual advance. The mother becomes upset and Eve talks to a "witch" who lives in the bayous to put a spell on her father and have him killed. In the end, Eve finds the truth when she reads a letter written by the father to the mother. What happens? Eve destroys the letter and her father never loses the false stigma of being incestuous. The writer should have given the father some sort of justice. Other aspects of the film that were good are the cinematography and the acting by the entire cast.

which i am embarrassed to admit we only went to see because of the coincidence of the name!! But this absurd 'excuse' to see a film we'd heard nothing about (no publicity or marketing - just an option among several others at our local multiplex cinema, lured in by a beautiful poster which it turned out proved to be a foretaste of a gorgeously shot movie) paid off richly. We are seldom impressed as we were with 'Eve's Bayou'; this layering of memories, filtered through the perceptions of three distinctly different women, was such an intelligent and suspenseful use of the much-abused medium of film, that I thought about and remembered it yesterday after 11 years (!) and decided to rent it again; I am confident I will like it just as much on second viewing. Now that i know it was a low budget first outing for the (female) director (whose DP was likewise female - something which is STILL an anomaly, even today, where commercially released features are concerned), I am simply blown away....Roger Ebert is absolutely right; the fact that this was not nominated for an Academy Award means they were simply not paying attention; for shame! It ought to have been a runaway success, and at very least nominated for Best Director, Best Supporting Actress(es), Best DP, Best Costumes, Best Screenplay. Unfortunately, Kasi Lemmons' follow- up to this (the gruesomely dark 'Valentine' something-or-other) was nowhere near as accomplished as this (though it was still good, by any movie standards). Perhaps she lost heart after being so overlooked? (and if so, who could blame her?!). I hope this film gets a re-release and much belated marketing 'push', with a perhaps more prominent placing at the local DVD stores, at least (I'm having to order my rented copy in 'cause it's not in the store...)!

"Eve's Bayou" is the name of the small settlement along the bayou that former slave Eve gave her name to. The story is told from a young girl's point of view, Eve Batiste (Jurnee Smollett), who is narrating as an adult. It was filmed in Louisiana, in the bayou areas north of Lake Pontchartrain, north of New Orleans. I particularly like the exposition during the last scene where Eve describes our lives and memories as an intricate tapestry of all of our memories. This movie is about Eve's memories. The movie starts by saying that Eve was 11 years old when she killed her father. We don't find out what she means until the very end. Her father is small time doctor Louis Batiste (Samuel L. Jackson) who mostly makes routine house calls, dispenses aspirin, and flirts with the lonely ladies. He says he loves his wife, he appears to be a good father to his 2 daughters and son, but occasionally strays, and that is what gets him in hot water. Meagan Good is fine as the older sister Cisely Batiste. Lynn Whitfield is also good as the wife and mother Roz Batiste.SPOILERS. When Eve wanders into the storage shed during a party, and falls asleep, she awakens to find her dad and Mrs Mereaux engaged in sexual activity. This scares her, but what really gets her going is when sis tells her that dad made advances towards her, then hit her when she withdrew. Little Eve decided she needed to have her dad dead, goes to voodoo lady Elzora (Diahann Carroll) for a spell. What really gets dad is when Mrs Mereaux's husband shows up and finds him and his wife together at a bar. He tells Loius to never speak to his wife again or he will kill him. Louis smiles and yells 'good night Matty', and the jealous husband shoots and kills him. So, Eve really was responsible, because it was she in an earlier conversation that hinted to Mr Mereaux that her dad and his wife 'both seemed to come home late a lot.' Eve feels bad when she later finds out her sister's story was not true, she had been the one who made an advance by kissing dad as a mistress might, and dad rejected that which made sis mad enough to lie about it.Of interest to me, Branford Marsalis had a small role as friend Harry.

One of 1997's great films and winner of the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, the American indie opened to wide critical acclaim. Delicate and complex, it's not only a showcase for great acting but also a deeply affecting film about family, loneliness , and the line between right and wrong.Directed by Kasi Lemmons, who's worked mostly as an actress. ''Eve's Bayou'' is inspiring with its look at the resilience of the human spirit and the ways in which truth can clarify, transcend and redeem a broken life. Like Jim Sheridan's ''My Left Foot,'' ''Eve's Bayou'' delivers a full emotional palette without undue sentimentalizing.Although Debbi Morgan and Jurnee Smollet are stunning -- and are the highlights, the rest of the cast is equally powerful -- particularly Lynn Whitfield, Samuel L. Jackson all charming and powerful as Louis, and Meagan Good, rebellious yet complex as Cisely. There would be no great acting if the incredible screenplay weren't in tact. At the very least, Lemmons deserved an original screenplay nod. "Eve's Bayou" currently sits at # 24 in my Top 50 Films of the 90s. It's truly a great film that didn't the recognition it deserved (i.e. Academy Award nominations), so don't let it pass you by -- buy the Special Edition DVD.