MOVIE - "12 and Holding"

12 and Holding is a tragic coming-of-age story that strips away the expectations of security and takes a trio of young friends into some shocking territory. The film starts with a familiar setup: the loner, picked on by bullies, is protected by his twin brother, who dumps a bucket of piss on the offenders from their idyllic tree house. But nothing stays safe for long: before the tree house can be torn down by construction, the bullies burn it down, not realizing that two of the kids are still inside. One, the athletic, good-looking brother, dies, and the other, an obese and depressed boy, loses his sense of taste. As for the twin's birthmark-scarred brother, Jacob, he is lost and confused, and finds his solace in plotting a sadistic revenge on the bullies who killed his brother. And these are just set pieces for darker times...

Read on at [Film Monthly]