Mean Creek

Estes' dark sunlit tale cuts like a knife.

A low-key, low-budget thriller that reminds us just how cruel young people can be.

Although it is a flawed film, with a first half that moves slowly and sometimes tediously, it is redeemed by a second half that is gripping, not only for its action but for its moral complexity.

Estes has accomplished quite a bit here. In addition to providing a textbook example of suspense, he also makes us want to know what happens to these kids after the screen goes dark.

You could call Mean Creek a moral thriller. And the emotional currents the movie wades into are far more tricky than the gentle surface the kids' boat floats along.

I never lived a story anything like this, but I understand the emotional life of this film -- and I'm betting you will, too.

This movie about teens is for adults only.

A very effective tale of morals, conscience, and peer pressure.

First time writer/ director Estes brings sensitivity and insight to this tale of teens pushed to extremes and forced to confront their sense of responsibility and morality

example of everything that is good in American independent cinema

Follows a fluid narrative that never feels contrived, and leaves the audience with genuine sympathy for every single child involved.

A mature, significant contribution to the unfornately growing trend of films that address teen violence (unfortunate in that we need the trend at all).