Pursued (2025) Film Review

Directed by: Jeffrey Obrow

Written by: Jeffrey Obrow, Julie Pifher

Starring: Maddison Lawlor, Sam Trammell, Molly Ringwald

Film Review by: James Learoyd

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pursued is one fascinatingly mixed bag of a film. Following the sudden death of her father, teenager Lark (Madison Lawlor) begins to suspect her mum’s new boyfriend, whom she’s never met, of being a murderer... until she doesn’t. When it comes to narrative intentionality, this is a truly confusing movie, and therefore slightly difficult to reckon with. What is set up here is not entirely understood until the payoff of the movie, and this is the result of screenplay and pacing inconsistencies. Then again, you can’t help but thinking, do these issues even matter so much when a movie looks this good? The answer is... kind of.

There is a real budget to this film, which thankfully shows. The cinematography is undeniably gorgeous, with the only conceivable complaint being its very digital sheen. However, when digital works, it works. Its focus remains stunning and the lighting is frequently spectacular. There’s a softness to these compositions which many in the film world will appreciate, not to mention quite beautifully framed subjects. An unexpected achievement in terms of aesthetics, and the standout aspect of the filmmaking.

There’s a real contrast, sadly, between the structural integrity of the visuals and that of the story. Whether this folly took place during pre-production, production or post, something has resulted in scene transitions feeling incredibly jarring, as well as characters’ intentions making seemingly little sense.

Readers, be warned, I’m about to encroach on spoiler territory. One feels okay doing this since it wasn’t so obvious, to this critic anyhow, that this was entirely meant as a twist. So, in the first act Lark suspects her mum’s boyfriend is a murderer; but she quickly comes to the bizarre conclusion – based on an Instagram photo – that she’s mistaken and that it’s a different man. Nevertheless, she continues to investigate said murder and in the third act she discovers – much to her surprise for some reason – that she was right originally. This is an unfortunate example of a good idea meeting weak execution; perhaps the most obvious example of the film’s shortcomings regarding story construction.

The characters, as stated, often appear unrealistic. But you could argue that this is in no way the fault of the performances themselves. Additionally, the film is also filled with many stars, from Molly Ringwald as the mum to the sadly departed Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas, and father of Mira Sorvino) as our protagonist’s friend’s grandfather. This certainly provides the picture some dramatic power and production value – especially in the case of Sorvino. The man could hold the attention of the camera, and personally, I could spend 100 minutes watching his reaction shots alone.

Viewers are sure to enjoy this movie, even if it’s purely from a visual standpoint – which, after all, is the cornerstone of cinema. And even with so many narrative inconsistencies, one is never really bored due to the unique mixture of tones at play. To surmise, this is an imperfect yet admirable effort from all involved. An intriguing fusion of thriller and investigative sub-genres, leading to some incredibly suspenseful set pieces.

Watch the official trailer for Pursued below: