This could have been the classic sort of coming of age tale they wanted it to be, but it's held back by several things. There are powerful themes at play, and the style of it is enough to show what they wanted to do, but it just doesn't come across. The two leads are mediocre actors, but the script was OK in most places, it had some issues but could have come across much better with better direction and acting.
The actor who played Lucas was meant to be a playful, confident sort but can't pull it off and is one of the worst performances in the film. I don't think I would call him a bad actor inherently, but he seems very new to it, and a better director could have probably utilized him much better. The actor who played Kyle was decent enough, if a little flat. The girl who played Emma did quite a good job, and the chemistry between Kyle and Emma was probably the best-performed relationship out of them all. The friendship between Kyle and Lucas never seemed real, beyond the frictions the storyline would have suggested there would be.
I think the lack of ever seeing Evan's face, not in flashback or in a picture or anything, was a poor choice. Given that even while absent he plays a large role in the film, tying it to a face would have lent a good deal to it. I will give the film credit for pretty accurately portraying the suffocating oppression of being a teenager in the beginning segments, though, and overall it does a good job showing that growth and living only really happens when out from under the thumb of 'for their own good' control by older adults. Friends can't talk or joke around without being shouted at or punished. A meal can't be had without their life being examined. They can't sit down and simply be for any amount of time without being seen as "wasting" their time. There is never any let-up and the literal beating Kyle is given later seems like fun compared to the constant inescapable squeeze of the suburban pressure cooker at home.
It wanted to be a classic coming-of-age story about personal growth and the pain of those left behind after a suicide. It got across that it wanted to be that. But in the end it doesn't achieve that goal.
