The Lovely Bones is a challenging film. The subject matter is not pleasant. It has that sort of Schindler's List vibe, in that it is a quality film, but how often do you want to watch a story about a little girl being brutally murdered? Sure, we consume horror movies and thrillers like candy. But when Susie Salmon, our main character, narrates the film from beyond her grave... we know what is coming won't be pleasant. That doesn't mean that this is a bad story, it is just challenging. Essentially, for over a third of the film we get to know Susie and her family in a touching and perfect period recreation of the early 1970s. But during that whole first third, we know she is going to die. I found myself experiencing a feeling of dread almost throughout the whole film.

The narrative switches gears all over the place, which is a product of the story being told. We have the real world of the living. We have the dark and twisted world of the killer. And finally we experience the afterlife through Susie's eyes as well. The story sometimes careens from one of these worlds to the next and that is jarring. The afterlife Susie is in is described as a sort of "in between" place that isn't quite heaven. Why is she there? My understanding is that she was freely able to go to heaven when she wanted to, but she was choosing to remain in this place so she could observe her family and help solve her own murder.

A lot of this film really works. Stanley Tucci looms victoriously over the whole film as the demonic killer. He is truly frightening even though we've all seen serial killer movies. Mark Wahlberg is remarkably effective as a mourning father who can't move on without justice being served. And of course Saoirse Ronan anchors the film quite strongly as Susie Salmon. Also, as I mentioned before, the period recreation felt very genuine (although I myself never quite experienced the '70s).

I'm not sure the overall story structure worked for me as I felt like the film was stuck with a story that had to kill its darling child off and yet still try to be hopeful and uplifting in its vision of heaven. And I'm not sure that much of the "in between place" imagery worked for me. I was drawn to the film because of Peter Jackson's involvement, but the creativity of the imagery did not astound me.

Overall, I feel the film suggests that who we are is who we are loved by. I am actually quite certain that I did not pick up all the messages the filmmakers were exploring. However, it seemed to me that Susie remained in the in-between more to finish up her adolescence and reassure herself that she was loved before she could move on. In that way, her killer being brought to justice felt a little secondary. As Susie watches her father mourn and search for her killer, she is reassured that no matter what, her father loved her. I think many of us are looking for that same reassurance.