Yet another variety of Dr. Caligari and unfortunately not a very good one. A traumatic event that is revealed at the end, a very beautiful girl and a traumatized protagonist with mental issues. Like Perks of Being a Wallflower. They all started with Dr. Caligari. I think Mel was interested in photography because the writer wanted the young viewers who spend a lot of time on instagram and social media emphatize with Mel and thus make the failure of that "perfect couple" reasonable. None of the characters were very authentic or interesting. The writer could have given the characters a bit more depth but I guess it's not very necessary considering the targeted viewers. It had a nice climax. Could have been much more dramatic to the viewers if there were more material they could relate to the characters. Dreaming about going away visiting a place on a random photo... Not a very original scheme right?

Boring, overwrought, trite, meaningless. That people rated this so highly makes me sad for human beings. The critics are RIGHT on this one. Run!! There is ZERO mystery. The love story is lame. No depth of character. No humor. The kid's beard is horribly fake. The catatonic father is moronic and never explained. The detective slash award winning writer has NO reason to be chasing down this self-absorbed loser. When the pink dies (I guess), we are relieved. The jock's underlying story of a Judge father who is beating him up and sleeping with middle school kids means less than nothing to "our hero" or the rest of the plot, and the jock's suicide is bereft of emotional impact, given the cut and paste time travel way this misguided film is constructed. I've rarely hated a film so much. It's vapid. Only the accompanying soundtrack is pretty good. Avoid.

This was one of the few movies I've recently watched and immediately wanted to tell the world it is GOOD, very good! The story is intriguing and the actors played it very well but the way it was narrated added just the right spice to make it perfect. It kept me a bit puzzled almost all the way but game me just the right amount of clarity and fulfillment at the end.

This is a movie that tells a story of a young man who is a talented writer, possessed by that one abiding talent and one sweet, star crossed love. How these play out over years of fame, horror, loss and search for a dream that has no address is the substance of the story. Told out of sequence, the story requires characters we must care about and all of the main characters deliver. Elle Fanning is particularly moving as a romantic young girl growing up in the unromantic adult world of hard truths and painful realities. The mysteries at the heart of the story telegraph their solutions, but the impact is only slightly lessened as they play out over decades of wounded lives. A well done tale.