All The Bright Places (2020)

★★

Two teens facing personal struggles form a powerful bond as they embark on a cathartic journey chronicling the wonders of Indiana.

Classification: 15

While directly addressing serious subject matter such as depression and suicide, something about the execution to All the Bright Places feels immature. Nothing outright offensive or upsetting but that the gravitas of this material is being used as a backdrop for teenage melodrama with Elle Fanning and Justice Smith's character fitting into those emotionally troubled highschooler clichés. The script from Jennifer Niven and Liz Hannah adapted from Niven's novel of the same name, plays into the modern John Green-Esque teenage romantic drama genre of awkward introvert finding companionship with a more outgoing outcast similar to films such as Paper Towns and mixed with the existential drama of The Fault in Our Stars. It is a highly idealised fantasy of what it means to be in love as a teenager, in a small American town and you feel that no one in the world truly understands you until you meet that special someone and go off on an adventure. It's a classic sentiment but director Brett Haley is unable to make anything about the film or this relationship feel magical beyond convention.

Elle Fanning portrays Violet, a depressed and isolated teenage girl who on the anniversary of her sister's tragic death finds herself standing at the edge of a bridge. She is found by school outcast Finch played by Justice Smith, whose appearance shocks Violet out of jumping but Finch develops an interest in Violet's wellbeing and in his unsubtle way of communication tries to form a friendship with her. Finch has his own problems, Niven and director Brett Haley having Smith's performance tease at a possible personality disorder as the character is prone to mood swings, disappearances and struggles to contain his more upsetting emotions. His bedroom is filled with multicoloured sticky notes of his thoughts and his disruptive attitude threatens his future at school, All the Bright Places is about these two lost souls finding understanding with one another as the friendship blossoms into love but not without its hardships. Haley's direction of the relationship and tougher material feels overly sentimental at many points especially when Justice Smith tries to dig deep into his characters pain removing the realism from the intended emotional healing. It's not a bad performance just nothing about Finch's character feels grounded but rather an exaggerated notion of what a troubled teenager would act like to escalate the drama of the film. He's weird for weirdness sake sometimes, like everything about Finch is a performance and the audience never really gets to see who this character is underneath all of the issues.

Same with the main romance between Violet and Finch as a class project which has partners travel to Indiana landmarks to note their importance to the state and each other. Essentially an excuse to get these two characters on the road and open up about their feelings, the screenplay aims to display the wonders of rural small-town America and its quaint novelty landmarks (I was a fan of the tiny rollercoaster which Finch and Violet drove 160 miles to see) but it never feels like we are on a journey with these characters. Rob C. Givens' cinematography gives some beauty to the film but nothing about the physical or emotional exploration these two characters embark upon is particularly moving or memorable. It's just more fodder into that quaint cliché of outcasts finding love within one another but even with the third act's darker emotional content, All the Bright Places just feels exploitative to the heavier topics it wants to explore. The relationship isn't believably developed or rationalised, Violet and Finch's initial interactions are interesting as his ceaseless prodding does force her out of her shell and begin to confront the reality of her sister's death and depression but in turn, the script doesn't really return the favour for Finch. The film seems to imply Violet's self-improvement comes at the cost of Finch's own mental health, Haley's intention is likely to show how the solution is not always there, that teenagers issues are critical and need better care and attention. That there is not always a happy ending especially when you are young and in love but the handling of the themes of suicide and depression seem so counterintuitive between informative and exploitative that the ending just leaves a bitter taste in the mouth at the emotional schmaltz.

All the Bright Places isn't terrible but its concepts of romance, mental health, and existential connection are handled in a manner that doesn't feel innovative or humble. Fanning and Smith's performances are trapped in a cycle of believable and melodramatic making the most critical emotional moments lacking the credibility needed to convey the serious themes of the film. The supporting performances are regulated to uninspired archetypes of concerned parents, high school friends, and guidance counsellors that have brief scenes with Violet and Finch across the runtime to provide emotional exposition and some commonplace catharsis. It's upsetting because the deeper material is necessary to talk about, that dark part of the soul that wants you to die and how teenagers emotional instability makes those voice deafeningly loud when left isolated. Yet All the Bright Places has a trivial approach to this reality always choosing the maudlin path but acting like its profound reaffirming storytelling that unlocks the secrets of teenage angst. Leaving all the desired intentions hollow with Violet and Finch's love story an unsatisfactory example of the genre.

Director: #BrettHaley

Screenwriter: #JenniferNiven and #LizHannah

Cast: #ElleFanning, #JusticeSmith, #AlexandraShipp, #KelliOHara, #LamarJohnson, #VirginiaGardner, #FelixMallard, #SofiaHasmik, #KeeganMichaelKey, #LukeWilson