Is This Now Review: Bafflingly Bad

Is This Now does have good intentions and doesn’t exploit the tragic past of its lead character for shock value. It focuses on how she tries to navigate a normal life after a horrific experience with a social worker.

However, Ingrid’s story is very badly told. 

The movie is very contrived and badly paced. The character relationships and plot developments are rushed. There are scenes that are glossed over or don’t make any sense.

Subplots are inserted to make the film look cool, which involves a grunge rock band and a 1920’s chic spiritual mentor, but they either lead to unnecessary or more cliched moments.

In one scene, we’re shown that Ingrid struggles to fit in by having her show up in jeans and t-shirt at a formal dinner party. The movie is filled with moments like this where things just happen around Ingrid and she either acts like a brat or she’s socially inept. 

The movie doesn’t tell you anything else about her beyond being a victim of sexual abuse, which is further emphasized by her suddenly meeting another person with the same experience. 

The entire cast is one-dimensional.  The acting is either hammy, wooden, or unconvincing.

Everything only gets worse by the end. The movie suddenly shifts its tone and renders everything that has happened before useless. Is This Now tells us that the only way Ingrid could start forming her own identity is through violence.

Is This Now is a badly executed movie that goes from one plot point to the next, resembling more of a cobbled together highlight reel of Ingrid’s journey. It doesn’t say anything coherent nor relevant about her story and an important issue.