At first I thought Winona Ryder's character was written a little too weak for her. Although her character does win validation it seemed implicit and undersold. There are also some plot holes but I'm not sure if they were deliberate.
The violence is shared between two antagonists and is explicit by one and implicit by the other, but not too gratuitous which allows your imagination to take over.
After decades of exposure to various forms of fiction, it's easy for me to see a quilt of classic plot formulas and character developments from such films as E.T., Stand By Me, It, Fire Starter, and Silent Hill, but younger viewers will definitely enjoy this new twist.
