I was very tense during the first few scenes. The level of danger within the story at this point was high, and I could almost feel it. As I watched Annabel (Kate Winslet) and her son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith)), subtly forced into taking home this strange man (Josh Borlin), I could practically feel their fear. Anything the characters were experiencing on screen, I experienced as well. It was all very real.
The way Labor Day was filmed was rather interesting. The very first scene involved shots from a moving vehicle; passing trees, buildings, etc. The way the shots transitioned, however, kind of took me by surprise. The editor decided to have the shots fade into each other. This, to me, was rather shocking and made me a bit uneasy because it took me a moment to figure out what I had just witnessed. It was different, that's for sure.
Another thing that was different was the focus on detail. Whenever a new scene would start, there were often shots of the character(s)'s hands, or an item they were picking up, or something, before showing who was in the scene and what was happening. I didn't mind it, it was an interesting way to set the scene, and it allowed for them to experiment with close-up shots.
Only one thing bothered me in this film; the flashback scenes. At times, it appeared as if the actor(s) on screen was/were in CGI, or at least partially in CGI. I don't like it when they do that. Why can't you get someone that looks similar to the character and film them with makeup or something? Digital animation looks fake to me.
I give Labor Day (I keep wanting to type "labour" day #CanadianProblems) a 6.5 out of 10.
