The story appears simple on the surface, but is revealed, especially after multiple viewings, as more multi-layered and textured than Cassavetes at his best. Ostensibly it concerns a 14-year old Catholic girl, Wynne (Agutter) growing up in this post-modern wasteland, who develops a crush on her much older adoptive brother (Marshall)- a crush which perversely deepens and grows into infatuation once she starts to believe he is the local sex killer. This is in itself an idea that makes you sit up and jolt, but as the narrative develops, it continues not necessarily along a linear path but in several confusing and fascinating directions: the family's history, (detailed effectively in chilling flashback during an improvised seance) is a chequered one, and has suffered at least one major relocation and upheaval in the last ten years. At the crux, however, it's the depiction of socialal changes that make I Start Counting so fascinating and elevate its language far beyond the confines of the standard horror film. The major subtext- that teenage girls were maturing more quickly than before, and developing full sexual and romantic appetites (even if in thought rather than deed) but were not possessed of enough discretion to make the right choices- was a step forward for a genre in which its young females had previously been portrayed as bimbo victims (Cover Girl Killer and The Night Caller spring to mind), but not one that all viewers would necessarily agree with. But most striking of all, and possibly the most enduring image which the viewer will take away with them, is of the masterful symbolism with which director Greene invests every shot. Every inch of the Kinch family's world- their house, their walls, their TV, Agutters underwear, bedroom furniture and toys, Sutcliffe's clothes, Marshalls van, the local Catholic church, their town centre, their record shop) - is painted a bright, scintillating white- a white which, by inference, is slowly becoming smudged and corrupted with the dirt of the outside world. White also symbolises, of course, purity and innocence (two qualities Catholic schoolgirls are supposed to hold dear), and it is into this world of innocence that the ever-present red bus (a symbol of violation and penetration), conducted by the lecherous yet similarly juvenile Simon Ward, makes regular journeys. The allegory is further expanded in one scene where Agutter believes she sees the Christ figure in church weeping blood: by the time we acknowledge it, its gone, but the seed has already been planted. Rarely in a genre production has the use of colour and background been so important or effective in creating a uniformity of mood. I Start Counting is as near-perfect an end to a decade as one could hope for, and exactly the kind of film people should be making now- which is, of course, exactly why they never will. A genre essential. by D.R.
疫情之下的家长里短，掺杂文化差异，没有过度煽情，很舒服
下辈子不想女生。是对这个家失望，还是对这个世界？
SARS背景下的一个家庭故事…比较细腻的日常，虽然平淡但也有动人的点。
女儿说，这个世界上我最不想成为的人就是我的母亲。因为她的恐惧会成为我的恐惧，她的软弱会成为我的软弱。母亲说，下辈子想做男生。
La relation très spéciale dans une famille asiatique, commune et déprimante.
与其看这些新片不如再重头看一遍杨德昌。
影片很淡，生活里琐碎的事、家人间相处的难。好像我们都是这样长大的，即便是一家人，每个人都各自在生活里拥有课题，回到家里碰撞在一起。芳仪说「我只是觉得妈妈可以做得更好一些。」思婷反问道「万一这已经是她的“最好”了呢？」很多细节是很生活化的，在不同的年代和语境下都会碰触得到。不煽情、不夸张、不窥探，有留白、有温柔、也有感动。
想要探讨的议题太多了，导致每个议题都是浅尝辄止。移民面临的culture shock, 癌症和肺炎，父亲的缺位和脆弱，夹带了一点两岸的复杂关系。这部电影就跟这个家庭的混乱和不适一样，到最后也没有太讲明白其中任何一个问题。以至于看到最后我仍然觉得美国是个刻板符号似的乌托邦而台湾水深火热。
03非典那年我九岁，小学三年级，学校突然通知不用上课，我高兴到站在课桌上面蹦，被老师呵斥。电影真细腻，林嘉欣真好，03年真好。
很别扭，拧巴，又很常见的母女关系，大概是许多女孩都会经历的一段。不过可以肯定的是，母亲真的很爱你，即使有时候你觉得不够好，但她真的在努力的做到最好。
是一个温情脉脉的故事，家庭小品。林嘉欣演妈妈很自然，也把很多小细节表达的很到位。欢迎回归。
知道它欠缺在哪里可是……丝丝入扣，针针入肉。林嘉欣太好了。
又是结局没结好，铺开了一个很好的人物关系结果到后来就这样草草结束了，什么都没深入展开….但前面真的挺好的，很台湾
喜欢对女性间那种涓涓细流般的绵密情感有着细语般的 刻画，喜欢母女间温柔、明媚又直率的爱。非常细腻之余却没有刻意为之的矫揉。时间线被设定在于此刻相似却有距离的地方。没有那种必须为此刻宏大的历史记录点滴的逼切愿望，这些是可爱的部分。小女孩没有杂念，演得很好。
3.5 有些情节是能引起共鸣，但好多问题完全没有解决，中国家庭那种父母权力压制，依旧需要孩子去做出让步。
很平静克制地表现文化冲突与家庭冲突的深处就是牢牢地捆着亲情关系，这母女三人都要面临着不同程度的「发肤切除」手术少有的不在「旧爱重逢」框架内探讨身份认同作品。影片聚焦是美国女孩回归「原生」家庭之后的事更是亲情中爱与恨的关系
很好看，演员的气质和表演把一个快要分崩离析的家庭矛盾演绎的绝妙，叛逆期的女儿，心理素质面临崩溃的癌症妈妈，隐忍负担的爸爸，天真无邪的妹妹，加上海外归国的各种格格不入，文本囊括了时代和人生的诸多变故，每一位都承载着变故后带来的压力，拥堵和夹杂在这个几近破碎的家庭里，充斥着火焰般的张力，与焦灼又力不从心的悲伤。镜头借姐姐的成长来见证家庭关系的升华，用妹妹的大病初愈来给予重生的希望，爱与恨的一体两面，都在文本中开了花，才让这个故事处处充满力量。★★★★
简短的叙事篇，我也不禁在想，我要是有这样的女儿，会怎么办
影片开头你看到了大量的东亚文化控诉（借以美台环境对比之名），展现了标准的东亚家庭亲子之痛，叠加代际文化等因素，最关键的演讲稿的出现，琢磨着扔个大炸弹，结果掏耳朵虚晃一枪以为喷的是男权（讲真的，这片子里爸爸就是牛马），其实核心还是亲情之爱，但确实是很台湾的方式了。最后呈现了以小见大的台湾家庭情景小品。
女儿怀念向往曾经的生活，以为等在原地的是代表自由美好的小马 其实妈妈才是一直温顺等待家庭 疾病套上辔头的白马吧…说不上具体好在哪，足够真所以足够动人 “我的白马儿你慢些跑啊，这一次没有我带你回家。”
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