The Automatic Hate (2016)

Pretty Good

hyped garbage

Good start, but then it gets ruined

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Dark quirky and compelling film. Without giving too much away, a very dark and foul family secret is unearthed by a professor's twenty-something son after a brief encounter with a young woman who claims to be his cousin. Plot twists, surprises, dark humor and a great dinner scene make for a good film. Don't look into the abyss. You won't like what is looking back at you.

I'm sorry to say I found this indie to be rather abysmal. To be honest, I found myself laughing and shaking my head in disbelief at some of the stilted dialogue and contrived plot elements as they unfolded.Joseph Cross stars here as Davis, who is approached by a young woman (Adelaide Clemens) who tells him she's his cousin Alexis and that her father (Ricky Jay) is Davis' uncle. Never knowing that he had any of these relatives, Davis begins to investigate the truth about all of this and starts to uncover a most bitter family feud, decades old, whereby his father (Richard Schiff) and his uncle have despised each other and won't even acknowledge the other's existence.As Davis tries to unravel this mystery, be prepared for more than one incest subplot, often cringe inducing dialogue, and an ending that I found really ridiculous.All in all, although I see other reviewers found merit with the movie, I just couldn't find much to like here at all.

A well done movie about secrets - secrets that can tear families apart and the ripple effects they cause. The script was well-done and the acting was very well done, too. The whole set up keeps one in suspense until the secret is revealed or at least you think that's the secret. The brothers - apparently really book-smart since they both went to ivy league schools - followed very different paths. And their off-springs live radically different kinds of lives - polar opposites, in fact. *Spoiler Alert* The real revelation though is all about forbidden feelings and the lies we tell ourselves. The film leaves you a bit stunned and the ambiguous ending forces you to draw your own conclusions, which film-goers usually don't want. A neat, tied up ending is always desired, but still a good film.

If you can't handle messy, real, life, this movie probably isn't for you. This movie is two things-- it's a mystery and a drama. The mystery is about why two brothers/fathers become estranged, as explored through cousins who don't meet until they are adults. While the movie doesn't go into much detail about the estrangement, it is a very thoughtful exploration of the confusing phenomenon called Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA), and it is a real thing, as anyone who has been adopted or has met family members they didn't grow up with can testify. That's the focus of the drama.What it is not, as some have implied, is a story about creepy incest. It's not lurid, and not pandering in the slightest. It's not about some "slutty" cousin and some dude who is willing to throw away his education, girlfriend or profession for some hot sex. If you go into the movie thinking or expecting that, you will be disappointed. I have no idea why another reviewer is ranting about this being a "gay" story about how being gay is hereditary. It has nothing at all to do with gay people. I think they didn't watch the movie carefully, because there was nobody gay in it at all. There are two events that happen -- the conflict of the brothers/fathers mystery estrangement, and then there's the conflict that happens when the cousins meet. There is nothing at all insinuating that anything is "hereditary". I thought the ending was perfect. The cousin doesn't want to lose his girlfriend, but at the same time, he knows that even though she has said they can't get back together if he doesn't tell the truth, he knows that she, like probably 95% of the people who watch the movie, will absolutely not understand, accept or forgive him... so he lies. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. If you are curious about what is really going on in the story, Google Genetic Sexual Attraction.