Wonderfully offbeat film!

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Eight Days To Live is one of those films I found myself questioning how I got around to watching, it wasn't on my watchlist and I'd never even heard of it.It's a Lifetime original movie, it looks great and it's cast is brilliant. It stars Kelly Rowan, Michael Eklund and the always excellent Katherine Isabelle.It tells the story of a 19 year old who goes missing enroute to a party and his families efforts to find him, pretty simple stuff.Thing is it's actually really quite well made, some of the characters aren't overly likeable but the cast make the best of what they've been given and actually impressed me. The story though simple is paced perfectly and I found myself really quite gripped and looking forward to seeing where it was building to.Then it all goes wrong, then it delivers a finale that kills the film stone dead. The finale is unbelievable on many levels and I'm so disappointed with it. I was enjoying the film, this is something I would have gone on to recommend but then THAT happened. Oh dear.Watchable film if you just close your eyes and imagine your own ending.The Good:GrippingGreat castVery well madeThe Bad:One of the worst endings I've ever seen Things I Learnt From This Movie:Someone needs firing for coming up with that endingCheating protagonists are really a thing now aren't they!Michael Eklund was born to be a bad guy

I am giving this movie a 7 out of 10 because of its very real portrayal of our Canadian RCMP and Police systems and how they respond when a person goes missing. This portrayal is exactly how it happens and so real it is eerie. The fact that Joe is nineteen, a teenager and male is also a big factor in the reaction to his being missing. The Mother in the movie with the hair in her face, this is just for effect. The family would never be allowed to search with Search and Rescue as they are not trained. A boy showing up in the middle of the road, very out of place and why?. Drugs and young girl on face book very believable and possible though not in this case. I have a son that is missing and never been found. He also travelled in the PG area though that is not where he is missing. It has been extremely difficult and painstakingly slow over the years to get the RCMP and police to follow up on my missing son. It is exactly what this family went through for the week extended over years. I was very grateful that Joe lived. The helicopter pilot in real life would never have gone up in the air against orders. In real life the Mother would never be allowed to touch Joe at the accident scene as in the case of another scenario she would contaminate evidence. my real life opinion e

At the start of this fact-based story, a group of young people are racing on a curvy highway, with loud music playing. Someone sees cops, and the whole group scatters. 19-year-old Joe is not supposed to be driving (though that didn't stop him from racing).Joe finds out he is getting his driver's license back. This is an opportunity to go to a party at his friend Evan's house. He will have to drive all night, but he promises to keep in touch and to return home by Monday. One problem: his girlfriend Patti, who he works with at a grocery store, wants him to spend the night while her parents are away. And not only does he gets a late start, Joe does leave his cell phone at Patti's house.Our first clue something is wrong: Joe nearly hits a boy standing in the road. He gives the boy a ride, and then we don't hear anything from him for a while.Joe's parents Teresa and Tim get a call in the middle of the night. Evan sounds high, but he knows Joe never showed up.Teresa goes to the cops but they don't think it's time to declare Joe missing. After all, he said he'd be back Monday. Teresa then takes the day off work to go search for Joe; she does know he has an online friend Lucinda in a distant town called Chasm. Tim has been out of work, so when he gets a job interview, that has to take priority (he's not that worried yet). Joe's teenage sister Becca is pleased to get a day off from school, and she goes with her mother and provides comic relief. Joe's brother Will stays home in case there is any news.Lucinda doesn't seem to know anything, but we get to see ominous flashbacks suggesting she knows more than she is telling. Teresa and the family put up flyers and get the press involved. The police reluctantly start searching. We find out information about Joe very gradually (mostly through more ominous flashbacks), and so do those searching. If Joe is really lying beside the road, one person says he has eight days to live. So just in case, someone had better get to work.At first, I wouldn't have said there was anything particularly distinctive about this movie. But as the search really gets under way, probably halfway through the movie, there is much more suspense and excitement.Michael Eklund, who reminds me of a character Brad Pitt once played (at least I think that's right), gives the standout acting performance, though that's not really saying much. Weaver is a drug dealer and Lucinda's boyfriend; he seems pretty messed up. The actors playing a couple of the cops are also quite good, at least for this movie. And while Kelly Rowan seems merely ordinary most of the time, I have to admit she had a couple of heartbreaking scenes. She must have called on a real tragedy or personal loss in her life.There is one moment that isn't a sign of quality, but rather a familiar cliché. Anyone who hates the behavior of the press in these situations should be happy. One vulture, not worthy of being called a journalist, asks Will a completely inappropriate question. The man should get out of the news business and go into reality TV. Will's reaction is enjoyable.This was satisfying, eventually.

When I was 18 I lived in a town called Parksville, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. I believe this movie is loosely based on an incident that occurred there with a young man who was on his way to a well known party location, Kaye Road gravel pit. He went missing on his way there when he drove his car off of an embankment. He did remain there for a week, but I can't recall how he was found, just that it was surprising he'd survived. I wonder if this is the same incident. Seems so ironic that something that occurred in such a small town would become a movie 16 years later. If anyone knows if this in fact the case, please let me know. I'm very interested to know.Thanks! Juliebean.