The two girls playing the lead parts here are total amateurs who act better actors' studio veterans. 'Level of belief beyond what any adult actors could achieve' is right, as Rebecca Miller, the director and writer, put it herself in her introduction on IFC. 'Jessica' is the story of a sort of modern day, adventurous, 'Huckleberry Finn type 10 year old girl living in the boondocks (Poughkeepsie?) with parents who are apparently former aspiring entertainer/artists who have now resigned themselves to the loss of their dreams and are having some weird, not quite clearly stated (but better for it being so)problems in their relationship. The mother succumbs to mental illness and Jessica, in order to cope creates an imaginary universe of 'order' based on the odd mixture of beliefs she's been taught in the (Christian Scientist?)household. Her only disciple is her little sister Ellie who follows her around as they do things to absolve themselves from whatever 'sins' they have committed, and 'go to heaven.' The wonderfully eccentric plot is beside the point though, because what emerges here is a unique perspective from the vantage point of a (quite mature but not vulgar) 10 year old, which automatically takes the viewer back to the forgotten soul of the 10 year old in themselves (not the silly Star Wars junkie type 10 year old soul, but the unspoiled , down-to-earth-in-its-flights-of-fancy, ten year old imagination that exists to whatever degree in all kids before it is forever eradicated). This is not easy; it is not like making a Disney movie. It requires super-involved naturalistic acting on the level of Brando and DeNiro from children. What Miller knows to her great credit is that children are much more likely to become 'themselves living in a different world' and therefore, a 'character' because they do not yet have the inhibitions that block most adult actors from believing the film world is real! The film world is as 'real' to them, as anything else once they get used to it. Jean-Pierre Leaud (for instance) has never again achieved the level of realism, as an experienced adult actor, that he did in 'The 400 Blows.' I'm glad I recorded this beautiful little film (since it's not available on video and is only shown once in a long while on IFC)because it clearly belongs in the same class of No-BS movies about childhood exemplified by 'The Little Fugitive,''Forbidden Games,''400 Blows,' and 'Au Revoir Les Enfants.'

This is an amazing if bizarre film. The acting of the two little girls is superb and far surpasses those of child actors in big budget studio films.

I've read some disturbing posts accusing this film of child exploitation, particularly in the use of nudity. The nudity in this film is as innocent as a baby on a bearskin rug, but too many narrow-minded morons with internet access confuse this with pornography.

The use of nudity in this film is a bit artsy, but very natural and represents the only beauty in these girls lives. Swimming nude with their mother the only time in their lives they've experienced joy. But the religious views of Angela makes her see herself as sinful, and her sister as unclean. This film could have been improved by more nudity to show how this budding adolescent views her own body. She already has a negative view of sexuality. But it's an issue no American filmmaker would dare explore, and I don't blame them.

This is where the film becomes a near-satire of the dangers of blind faith in fear-based religions. This view of sin and uncleanliness leads Angela down a dangerous path but in her innocence, she doesn't view her actions as having negative consequences on her sister.

Without giving any spoilers, Ellie experiences true freedom at the end only by experiencing, in the director's words, "an intense emotional experience."

The only negative comment I have is I already know ahead of time how society views films of this nature. I'm surprised to see that few religious nuts who have seen this film never recognized it as a criticism of their faith. No one seems to be able to get over the sight of a naked baby to be able to do that.

tlyoung88

Beautifully conceived and executed, this movie touches on something rarely seen—the testing and rituals imagined by a child to address the destruction of the world she knows. Angela (Miranda Stuart Rhyne) senses the presence of sin and angels in the house where her mother Mae (Anna Levine) is falling deeper and deeper into madness as their father (John Ventimiglia) watches helplessly. She and her little sister Ellie wander through the neighbourhood, meet a lot of strange people, and try to find a way to clean their souls of sin, ultimately with tragic results. They summon the Virgin Mary, but the one who hovers outside the window is probably not genuine or safe. The moments when their mother cycles back to something approximating normal make the girls happy again, but these moments do not last and the happy face becomes drawn and stricken. The sleepwalker next door, always checking her mailbox at night, is not an angel and cannot tell Angela the way to heaven. Angela is drawn to pity Lucifer, who lets her see him pale and writhing in the cellar, pleading softly, the stumps of his wings still bleeding. The river where simpler people are baptized cannot help her as she tries to expiate for sins that she does not understand and that she has never committed. The young actor who plays Angela is riveting, her sister open and appealing, the mother a powerful example of the dissolution of personality, the father gentle but strained far beyond his limits. The key concept--that children faced with unbearable facts, can internalize them and try to bear a family's burdens, and that the intelligent, sensitive, and imaginative child is more likely to enter into this struggle completely--is brilliantly conveyed.