'All The Bright Places' delves into teen trauma, love and is surely Netflix's strongest film in the genre
The article contains spoilers for 'All The Bright Places'
While the name suggests otherwise, 'All The Bright Places' by Jennifer Niven might read as a pretty dark book for many and as such, so may the movie adaptation that is now streaming on Netflix. So before anything else, it is important to sound some warnings for viewers with mental health concerns and grief issues.
When the book 'All The Bright Places' first came out, it generated a lot of positive reviews and was compared to 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green. However, one reviewer had pointed out that the book is not for kids with depression, but rather for kids with friends who have depression — and that holds true for the movie as well.
Starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith as Violet Markey and Theodore Finch, the movie is set in Indiana. Violet has lost her sister in a car accident a few months prior to the setting of the movie, while Finch has unnamed issues of his own.
One day, as Violet is standing on the ledge of the bridge where the accident happened, Finch makes her come down. And so begins his obsession with the girl. In the book, these scenes play out much better, but as the movie needed to be condensed to play under two hours, Finch comes across to be borderline-stalking.
It does take time, but Fanning And Smith build up their chemistry as the movie progresses. Teenage angst ensues and a night of staying out too late triggers Finch's breakdown. Until then, the movie plays out quite smoothly — and major props to the background score.
The actors' performances are especially to be lauded — they often make the dialogue seems more profound than it is — though director Brett Haley does try to offer up what he can.
That said, 'All The Bright Places' perhaps deals with mental health better than Netflix's other teen offering '13 Reasons Why'. The movie isn't afraid to delve into Violet's PTSD from the car accident or Finch's issues stemming from the abuse he faced from his father.
'All The Bright Places' is also Netflix's strongest offering as of yet in the teen genre department, and yes, that includes the 'To All The Boys' movies. As Violet and Finch traipse around Indiana visiting quirky places, you can't help but be sucked into their story.
'All The Bright Places' is now streaming on Netflix.
