While certainly no Hitchcock masterpiece, this movie is nevertheless an entertaining way to pass some time. The film's cast is solid, from Miranda Bailey as Dina, to the always fantastic Jeffrey Donovan as the suspicious Paul. The premise is relatively simple- a desperate vagrant couple looks to make some quick cash by unloading Dina's baby on a childless rich couple. However, the artistic device used to convey the story is the repeated flashback while Dina reveals the story to a stranger. I personally did not know what to make of her opening up to the stranger like that, but other posts on here seem to have a better grasp on that, so read those if you want a tiny spoiler. Otherwise, the story is your run of the mill thriller. It'll keep you shocked, and even in suspense. One thing that bothered me was the darkness during the film's end points. Was hard to see what was going on! However, you make it out, and the action that unfolds is enjoyable to watch.

As the story begins, we watch a woman that appears to be a bit disoriented, walking with a baby in her arms singing a lullaby. A narrator informs us that it is her baby, but the woman carrying the infant is not really her mother. The action changes to a highway where a young woman, Dina, is seen trying to hitch a ride. A station wagon stops and she enters. The driver, Peter, appears to be a kind man that takes a big chance in giving this woman a ride. Dina begins to warm up to the older man. His demeanor elicits confidence in her, as she begins to tell him her story, that on the surface appears to be something, but is it really what happened? The viewer better pay attention because there are clues along the way that explains the situation.Dina and Ron are white trash lovers. Ron is a petty thief that has not amounted to much. His ambition is to get enough money to buy a boat and sail out of Florida. When Dina becomes pregnant, Ron is upset. Since they have nothing to do legally, they decide to capitalize in an unexpected asset: Dina's baby. The couple realizes there are desperate women that will do everything in their power, and will spend an incredible amount of money in getting a baby by whatever means.Maria, is such a woman. She's a doctor, apparently successful. She and Paul, her husband, live in a dream house. They have bought the model home in a new rich development. Paul is a lawyer and he wants to get Maria the baby she cannot have otherwise after a few trials and miscarriages. When Ron and Dina arrive at their place, they have already figured in their minds what they really want to do with this couple.Paul gets wise to their guests' real intentions. He tries to tell his wife, but she is too intent in buying it from Dina. There are indications early on that the couple is up to no good. Ron gets aggressive, never expecting that Paul is a formidable opponent. Maria, a diabetic, suffers a seizure. After all the fighting, there are only two people standing, Dina and Maria. Being a doctor, Maria figures out a way to get what she really wants, but cannot have otherwise.The premise for this film is deceptive. Director Paul Holohan, who has worked in television, was trying his hand in films. Working with Brooke Purdy's first screenplay, he created a horror drama in which what is real and what is not interplay in the story. We are surprised by Dina's frankness with a total stranger. Not only that, Peter sits in judgment, although his own take on what Dina has been telling him during the trip does not become known until the last part of the story. Then, it makes sense what we saw at the start and what is really happening at the end.Leonor Varela, the Chilean actress, has some good moments as Maria. We did not care much for Miranda Bailey's Dina. Jeffrey Donovan, Waylon Payne, and veteran actor Richard Riehle complete the cast.

Paul Holahan's HINDSIGHT has a unique premise presenting us with the theme of being blinded by one's hidden agendas. When Dina and her boyfriend, Ron decide to sell their unexpected baby to desperate Maria and her husband, Paul, all four of them allow their wants to take over them and lead them to an unethical dark side in themselves. The film had a chance to be a thriller with substance, rather it showcased its theme repeatedly giving the thrilling moments less sting so tonally the film bordered on drama. Cutting back to Dina in the present, her narration and freeze frames made the situations at hand less frightening and less significant. Peter, the driver that picks Dina up in the beginning, states the theme through dialog even though the action in the past works as subtext to show us what the theme is. Further, Dina speaks so casually when she narrates and no one screams when they are victimized (except for when Maria and Paul argue over cutting Dina's belly open). It seems as if the musical cues that lead up to these big moments (like when Paul first attacks Ron) lead up to nothing because the tension is lost when important events happen. After Paul attacks Ron, there is a cut back to the present in which Peter tells Dina she thinks nothing is her fault. Then Dina repeats that statement by narrating that we probably think this is her fault. The attack on Ron should have been the turning point in which everyone turns against each other, but it is downplayed. Foreshadowing should cause tension in a thriller, but foreshadowing is lost when Dina says what is going to happen next. There is good parallel action placing Dina and Ronnie versus Maria and Paul and there is a good arch for each of the characters in which they change when their sight is narrowed in on their desires. The most exciting scene is when Paul taunts Maria to cut open Dina's belly. It put everyone against each other singularly and it revealed character, especially Maria's, using a kind of suspense where one must look away. It then gave reason for Maria's character to choose to do what she did at the end. It is well-written, but the form of the film takes away from the story. The film has depth and is intelligent unlike many thrillers, but the thrill is lost.

The movie starts off with the ending like so many Indies these days. Dina (Miranda Bailey) is hitch hiking across a deserted highway and then picked up by a driver (Richard Riehle) to whom she tells the story of how she ended up on that road, that day. She starts with her boyfriend Ron (Waylon Payne). Where we zip to a scene where Dina and Ron are having wild sex in a shabby motel. They speed off leaving no pay for the hotel owner and stealing the room's TV then speed down the road where we see they are living out of their car. Soon enough they find out that Dina has gotten knocked up and they have no way of raising a child. Then we meet Maria (Leonor Varela) and Paul (Jeffery Donavan). A rich yuppie couple living in an up and coming gated community where they live in the model home. Dina and Ron show up 8 months later pregnant. They have made a deal with the rich couple to "adopt" or sell their unborn baby. However, during the visit, where they play an extended game of Pictionary we see that neither couple is who they say they are. Thrills ensue. Paul gets beaten up, Ron gets stabbed, Dina gets locked in a closet, and Maria wants the baby. She will do anything for the baby, even if it means betraying her husband. The film goes from the story to the car ride where Dina tells her story, so one assumes she survives the ordeal. However, the ending is a HUGE surprise, and what we thought was happening really was not. Performances are rock solid. Direction is on par. To gruesome for some in the end I sure, but worth a watch.