A very good film that delves into the soul of innocence lost is touching and heartrending.  It’s called Gimme Shelter and tells a true story about a teen thrown on a dark path that comes to a hurtful crossroad in her life.  The drama has all the trappings of being a future candidate for award honors for acting and direction.  Not your average teen angst film, this one has a lot of tough love and unusual courage.

The movie centers on Apple (Vanessa Hudgens) a 16-year-old girl who has been tossed around to at least ten foster homes and finds herself in full circle back to her addicted mother June (Rosario Dawson) who had forced her out in the first place. Abused and used for the money the government pays for child welfare, she finally stands her ground and leaves her mother’s drug and prostitution household.

Apple turns up at Tom Fitzpatrick’s (Brendan Frasier) house, her real father that had left her mom before her birth.  Astonished by her condition, he takes the young girl into his home, but after his wife Joanna (Stephanie Szostak) finds out Apple is pregnant, the high strung teen decides to leave.  Following a near fatal accident, Apple gets introduced to Catholic Priest Frank McCarthy (James Earl Jones) who gets her situated at a shelter for teenage pregnant girls run by Kathy DiFiore (Ann Dowd).

Vanessa Hudgens as Apple in GIMME SHELTER

Most of the above synopsis takes place in the first act where we get to meet all the characters and their relationship to Apple.  It then goes on to an even more compelling drama about her stay in the shelter and her future.  Writer and Director Ronald Krauss keeps his story very tight never straying from Apple’s path of sorrow, coping with advice from all sides, making her own decisions and a glimmer of hope. He provides several twists to the plot that take the viewer by surprise right up to the very end.

The acting by the central cast is superb especially lead actor Vanessa Hudgens who plays the brooding, frightened and stubborn homeless teen.  She shows Apple’s passionate challenge to keep her baby in the face of so many reasons she shouldn’t.  It’s the best performance in a role that I’ve seen by Vanessa and one that shows her performance depth and promise for a brighter acting future.

Rosario Dawson as June in GIMME SHELTER

In support, Rosario Dawson gives a powerful stand-out performance as Apple’s dead-end mother who grasps at anything that will keep her in drugs and wanton companionship.  Showing the destitute abusive side of June who openly doesn’t love her daughter, Dawson gets defiant and fanatical.  Because Apple won’t come back to her for the welfare check, she even tries to disfigure Apple in retaliation for her disobedience in a gut wrenching scene with a razor blade at a church.

Written with a lot of heart, Ronald Krauss’s story reminds me a lot of the feel of the film Precious and her plight.  He uses some tight close-ups of the brooding Apple to show the hurt in her eyes and face.  He takes his audience with her into the center of teen pregnancy, the challenges of motherhood and the solace of the nest that gives hope to those who find themselves caught up in something unexpected.

Gimme Shelter has been rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving mistreatment, some drug content, violence and language. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have some scenes that are inappropriate for adolescents.

FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good heartrending drama that sends deep-seated messages. (B)

Additional Film Information:
Cast: Vanessa Hudgens, Brendan Frasier, Rosario Dawson, James Earl Jones, Ann Dowd
Directed by: Ronald Krauss
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving mistreatment, some drug content, violence and language
Running Time: 1 hr 40 min
Release Date: January 24, 2014
Distributed by: Roadside Attractions