Review of Driftwood (2006) by Jennifer H — 11 Jul 2009

A teenage boy contemplating suicide after the death of his older brother is sent to the behavioral adjustment facility 'Driftwood' by his clueless, if well meaning, parents where he begins to see ghostly apparitions of a dead boy.

I've seen documentaries about such places on television and, whilst they seem like my idea of hell on earth, 'Driftwood' still seems remarkably over the top. A testosterone infused dick swinging contest where the inmates threaten and attack each other for no good reason and Captain Kennedy who runs the place beats and tortures them and even some of the teachers. The level of corruption is extremely difficult to swallow.

Completely lacking subtlety to the detriment of realism and lacking any real scares the movie still manages to work effectively thanks to great storytelling and and an interesting and well thought out plot.