Palindromes

Palindromes read the same way backward and forward, and Todd Solondz' sour tale ends where it begins. That's circular rather than palindromic, but why quibble — it's a mean-spirited and obvious excuse to wallow in physical and moral ugliness no matter how you look at it. And were it not for the casting gimmick — two adult women, four teenage girls and one girlish boy, all of various shapes, sizes and colors, play the same put-upon, 12-year-old — the film would be nothing more than a pallid retread of the Marquis de Sade's Justine, or the Misfortunes of Virtue. The travails of little Aviva Victor (6-year-old Emani Sledge) begin at the funeral of her unloved co...