Great Film overall

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Let's be clear on something from the start: this is not a "great" film, not something that is or deserves to be in the canon. Technically speaking, it is fairly amateurish, although for an early low-budget independent effort this crew is fairly competent and I would be happy to see them succeed. The cast is mostly bearable, and big kudos for using actors that actually looked like teenagers in a high school."Echoes of Innocence" is not a typical teenage flick along the lines of "Clueless," "10 Things I Hate About You," etc. ad infinitum, and be grateful for that. Our 17-year-old protagonist is a Goth girl saving herself for marriage and nursing an obsession with Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and St. Joan of Arc. Most people call her "Virge," but she has the self-esteem to take it in stride and so we are spared some of the more agonising scenes of teenage angst.On the other hand, that is part of the problem. This movie touches on but fails to explore the depth that seems to be underlying these characters and ultimately fails to weave religious and moral struggles into the fabric in a meaningful way. Sarah is an interesting character: she's not a Catholic but she has visions, she recites the prayers, she appears to study the Faith, she apparently believes in the Sacraments (attempting to take Confession, Absolution and Penance) and seeks the counsel of a Catholic priest. So why had she not she attempted conversion? We never get any hint, and so we are never really drawn into her personal journey.But this is just one example of the film failing to draw out its potential. So many of the characters look like they could be more than stereotypes and our suspicions are just never confirmed. I wonder if perhaps this story reflects an obsession on the part of the scriptwriter and a literary immaturity that hampers its full expression. (I also suspect part of the problem is that this film fails to conceive of the world outside teenybopper suburban America, which is definitely not--proliferation of Young Life ministries aside--a good breeding ground for a deep Faith or culture.) As for the ending... ugh, the completely cheesy and pointless villain sub-plot, the Deux ex Machina.Kudos for attempting to be uplifting, but shame for taking good, solid literary elements and totally smashing them on the floor. This isn't bad if you've got an extra evening off and want to make it a popcorn-and-Pepsi night, but if you're looking for a good Christian-themed film about the struggle of Faith of a young person who's actually a real human being, you're definitely better off looking at Robert Bresson's "Le journal d'un Curé de campagne"--just be warned that if you're the type who goes for cheap thrillers like "Echoes of Innocence," you'll find the former far too slow for your tastes.

I absolutely adored this movie. A lot of people don't believe that some people can see and hear voices and be sane. However, clairvoyance and clairaudience does exist and is very real. You hear about false psychics on TV but you also hear about the legitimate ones and ancient cultures who have survived on the words of their chieftains and their medicine men in the belief that they, along with their visions came from God. If anyone doubts this statement then said persons have forgotten that even the Bible says "Men and women will prophesy." As far as remaining a virgin until marriage, that too is realistic. I waited 'til I was 25 and I have no regrets. To those who have said, "This movie isn't Christian," you missed the point. This entire movie was about faith in God, in a belief, in another person, and in oneself despite persecutions from her mother and the Alec character and the basic struggles in life. This movie was very well done, well written and the actors played magnificently. Anyone who hates this film over-analyzed it way too much and couldn't grasp the sweet simplicity of the message. One more thing, Sarah would have lost her visions and the angelic voices had she had sex with the exception of marriage being first. By waiting to be married before having sex Sarah didn't lose her visions nor did she lose her angelic connections with Him.

I came to this movie wanting to watch how young people today approach love and its meaning within the context of their preset religious and contextual environment but after watching the first 30 minutes realised that what I was actually watching was more akin to a public health announcement then a study of true love and its meaning to the youth of today.The religious symbolism did not add to the movies message, if anything detracted from it, its constant moral pandering to the conservative "no sex before marriage" lobby skewed what could have been an insightful view into the life of a teenage women, torn between her ideals of true love and the real world.For the most part this movie just did not chime with the reality of what its like to be a teenager or young person in our society today. Even though set in a modern high school the "kids" just did not seem to act as they do normally, rather it felt like we were in a time warp or alternate reality of how teens would act in the 1940's or 50's a very rigid, almost unreal feel to the action. Perhaps what annoyed me most about this movie was the cruel way in which it extolled its holier than thou attitude commending those enlightened enough to still be virgins while casting a dark devilish light upon those who lead a different perhaps less virtuous young persons life.Perhaps to be fair I should add that the acting was above par for the main actors, however given the script and the heavy bias towards religious overtones without a smidgen of reality really just meant that it was an amazing achievement I actually sat through the entire movie instead of switching off and going to sleep.

Perhaps in the genre of "A Beautiful Mind" "Echoes of Innocence" captures the intensity of teenagers caught in the whirlwind of their passions, hopes, and conflicts. Using beautiful, mysterious and powerful visuals "Echoes" enters the intensity of one girl's emotions, Sara, and her search for meaning, love, and a faith that endures. Especially in the climax where events become dangerous and murky, director Todd Simms evokes the dramatic complexities projected by the Swedish icon and film director, Ingmar Bergmann.The typical milieu of teenage life is revealed in "Echoes" with basketball practices and locker room schemes, parties, drama practice, lunchtime in the cafeteria, and classroom life. In the mixed bag of best confidences and betrayals, guys looking to carve many notches on their belts, girls looking for romance and excitement, one girl tries to swim above the tide and not get pulled down into the fierce current of sex and intrigue. That girl, Sara Jenkins, experiences all the temptations of a normal high school coed and yet she doesn't succumb. How and why she does this forms the plot of "Echoes of Innocence."Non-dorky and compelling Sara is beautiful inside and out and unwittingly creates a mystique that no one can fully comprehend, not even her only adult friend and confessor, a Catholic priest. Sara believes in God with her whole heart but this is not a Catholic film. She has no "religion", just a strong faith that even inspires her priest to the highest standards. Director Simms is more than a storyteller; he is an artist using common themes in incredibly artistic ways.Sitting on the edge of my chair for the second half, my heart raced as I couldn't figure out how all the plot threads would be woven together. I don't want to rob you of that delicious movie-going torture, of not knowing how it will end. But the way there is probably more important than the end itself. How Sara copes with her dysfunctional mom, uninvolved caretaker grandmother, deceitful best friend, guys on the prowl, and her inner faith is something that should be required viewing and discussing for all 10-18 year olds in America. The rest of us should also see "Echoes" reassured that morals and character are not dead in America.The characters' struggles are felt, not described. Many scenes seem short on dialog because they are filled with subtext and are part of a cinematic world that is much bigger than the particular experience being explored. Whether Sara is fending off unwanted approaches of the macho basketball team, confiding in her best friend or becoming intrigued by the new guy in her class, David, we see real relationships that unfold naturally and we are drawn into each one deeply.