Review of Hide Your Smiling Faces (2014) by F B — 26 Jan 2015

Another low-budget film that sets tone and cinematography above story, and it doesn't help it. For the first part of the film you are rather mesmerized with the minimalist approach to the story, and the poetic nature of the images. But as the story of this group of boys progresses, I found myself less and less interested with what was going on.

What director Daniel Carbone does so well is capturing the innocence and precarious nature of middle school boys. As they get into trouble, they also have a playful tone about them. Carbone really understands this and portrays that very well. He also casts the young boys perfectly, and their journey into grief and trauma seems believable and understandable given what they experienced.

However, it's imagery and, seemingly, form-less structure begins to feel tiring, repetitive, and monotonous at times. Carbone is great at establishing the tone he wants, but over the course of the movie the tone begins to feel trying and tiring. It definitely has some solid moments, and Carbone gets the small moments right. But since the overarching structure of the plot isn't there, you don't care too much.