All The Bright Places Review
Based on Jennifer Niven’s 2015 novel of the same title, ‘All The Bright Places’, starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith, widely covers Mental Health Concerns, Suicide, and Grief. The movie shows Niven’s lovers, Violet and Finch, differently from the novel and many important character details were excluded from the film.
Violet Markey and Theodore Flinch, two struggling teenagers, meet each other by sheer coincidence of fate. Change each other’s lives forever. As they engage with the emotional and physical scars of their past. In this journey, they realise that even the smallest places and moments can bring someone happiness and meaning.
The movie mainly focuses on Violet, who is grieving the death of her sister, Eleanor. Finch meets Violet when he talks her down off a bridge. Later, fascinated by her, Finch asks her to be his partner for a school assignment to “wander” their home state of Indiana. During these excursions, they get to know each other more and eventually fall in love.
But while Finch is helping Violet process her grief and finally move on in her life. Finch himself is dealing with dark moods and mental health issues. Instead of accepting the help Violet offers him, he prefers isolating himself for days. To which his friends say, “It’s normal.” The sparking romance depicts the healing nature of companionship and the toxicity of co-dependence in a way that’s as relatable as it is romantic to the viewers.
“All The Bright Places” judiciously avoids some of the major flaws of the much-controversial and trending series on Netflix, “13 Reasons Why”, addressing similar concerns. Like the blame game played after one’s suicide, and depicting self-harm scenes without trigger warnings. As in this film, the makers show no dead body or suicide scene of Finch. It is denotatively represented by actions.
The movie ultimately has a heartbreaking, rather sudden ending that could be triggering for some viewers, but still somehow manages to leave its audience on an optimistic note towards life.
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