Title – Fear of Rain (2021)

Director – Castille Landon (Apple of My Eye)

Cast – Madison Iseman, Israel Broussard, Harry Connick Jr., Katherine Heigl

Plot – Struggling with schizophrenia, teenager Rain (Iseman) often can’t tell the difference between the real and the imagined as she begins to suspect her neighbor may in fact be a child kidnapper.

“It’s not all in her imagination”

Review by Eddie on 10/05/2021

Being a teenager is hard work. Being a teenager battling a severe bout of schizophrenia, now that’s something else entirely!

Poor old teenage girl Rain however is very much one of these unfortunate souls.

Alienated at school because of her seemingly insane nature and wholeheartedly believing that her next door neighbour/teacher is in fact harbouring a small kidnapped child, life isn’t easy for Madison Iseman’s unlucky Rain, who finds solace in the presence of her mother Michelle and her friendship with the the possibly conjured up Caleb.

Directed by still establishing director Castille Landon, Fear of Rain is a low budget affair that has convictions in its motives and enough clout to attract rising star talents Iseman and Broussard as well as sometime A-listers Harry Connick Jr. and Katherine Heigl but while its heart remains in the right place and its late showing twist and turns need to be seen to be believed, Castilee’s film is a little too slow out of the blocks and rough around the edges to become the small time indie hit it might’ve been.

Directed in a very po-faced fashion and failing to make the most of Rain’s unnerving mindsets (bar a few underutilised flashes of on screen text designed to establish the way Rain thinks on the fly), Fear of Rain had the potential to be a wildly disruptive and energetic affair that gives way far too often to uneventful moments and character beats that halt it in its tracks while we should be glued to our screen trying to figure out just how crazy or sane Rain in fact is.

With the most screen-time, both Iseman and Broussard come through the film best with Iseman in particular showcasing a strong leading lady potential but the work of the slumming it Connick Jr. and Heigl leaves a lot to be desired as their parents to Rain Michelle and John fail to make a mark as the two disinterested screen performers clearly couldn’t have cared less if they tried.

It’s a shame these elements didn’t align for Fear of Rain to work, the downright bonkers plot and narrative movements had potential to create a real cult hit but as it stands this is a rather tiresome affair that only barely scrapes by.

Final Say – 

Fear of Rain’s plot held much potential but its only ever half met at best as a fairly jaw dropping finale and some nice central turns from its young leads helps proceedings along and ensures this low-budget affair didn’t sink to low depths it may’ve sunk too.

2 sets of keys out of 5