Del Kathryn Barton hits strong in her first feature-length film. Excepting some shaky decisions, the film is engaging both in its more “kitschy” and colourful side as well as its more humane and naturalistic one. Supported by great art direction, special effects and acting, from the very beginning we become fully engaged in our protagonist’s emotional journey.

The world of the highly imaginative 12-year-old Blaze (Julia Savage) is completely shook after witnessing an horrific rape and murder. In a state of deep trauma, her only haven are his caring father (Simon Baker) and his friend Zephyr, a glittery dragon.

After surpassing the initially deceptive mood of the film, we get to fully understand what this movie is truly about. It is not a sort of police investigation / courtroom drama with tints of quirky science-fiction, but rather a profound coming of age film triggered by a scarring experience. This experience being the witnessing of the rape and murder of a woman.

The way how Barton films this sequence deserves all the praise as we truly get to feel the same way as our young protagonist Blaze is living that situation. Fear and a sense of being petrified and not being able to react. After all, it is just as being equally raped and attacked by the assailant.

Julia Savage is equally great in conveying all these conflicted and damaged feelings throughout the film. She is particularly great in presenting a sense of culpability and self-blame as she feels that she did not do enough against that situation.

To relief her of this agony and protect her against the pressures of the external world (mainly being the tensions of the investigation and legal procedure surrounding the case for which she is the key witness), she only has the support of her father also greatly played by Simon Baker. Baker excels in showing his unequivocal care and love for her daughter and her well-being while also being completely overwhelmed by the tragic situation.

Her other support? Her buddy Zephyr (or Zephy, or Zeph) and the large army of small porcelain figurines that come to life to cheer her up. Here is where we find maybe the special highlight of the film, as it is where mostly this highly imaginative and fantastic world created by Blaze expresses itself. This highlight is all the special effects and brilliant and colourful designs take full force. All these friends are the only thing that keep her to a better, easier, and simpler times but, are they maybe holding her back to go forward and confront her demons? This is what she will have to figure out.

Unfortunately, at times the movie self-indulges and over relies in this visual and aesthetic aspect. Losing track of the story to simply present some sequences that just look like music videos inserted in-between the film. These obviously try to display in a more artsy and metaphorical manner our young hero’s psychological journey, and it surely succeeds to do so in a fairly clear and understanding manner, but at times it just seems like music, lighting and choreography has been put in a blender and the result has been splattered on the screen.

The other shame is the little screen time that some other very interesting characters and performers have. Basically, only Anna, friend of Blaze played by Sophia Hampson, has a bit of relevance and although it is also splendidly played, she does not seem to be the most interesting of the characters that could have been covered. On the other hand, Will McDonald as Micah (son of Hannah, the victim) or Bernie Van Tiel as Blossom (one of Blaze’s therapists) steal the show in their reduced appearance and, although that might be the reason that makes their involvement somewhat more poignant, it feels like they could have enjoyed of more weight.

All in all, this is a hard but at the same time beautiful film that looks at both the process of maturation of a child but also the heavy impacts that sexist and misogynistic crimes can have to not just those directly involved but everyone else surrounding. Nonetheless, its slightly misuse of the visual elements which makes us lose focus on the underlying story makes this film imperfect. If the more imaginative aspects had been restraint to telling the emotional experience of Blaze more delicately and the more bombastic and superfluous sequences had been substituted by giving more attention to some of the secondary characters, the movie and its message could have been even more powerful and clear.