And Then I Go

A pretty good film ruined in its final moments. Most films that stop without ending are failures of grace, brains and courage. This is no exception.

It's younger kids and they don't own a computer or smart phone totally unbelievable....9 & 10 year olds own a smart phone or play games on a Ipad. The acting and directing was good. This movie was either about gun control or being bullied.

This film, dark and spare in the script and the actual cinematographic light cast on its main characters, succeeds in getting the viewer inside every character.

It makes clear the gnarly inchoate incompetence and pain of being thirteen year-old boys, friends since kindergarten, unsuccessful in 'socializing' in middle school.

Clear also is the wide gap parents try to bridge, when they try to fix their kids, objectify their children as problems to be solved by programs and processes, instead of wordless aimless love.

"And Then I Go" has a plot, which dimly echoes the Columbine school tragedy, but that echo isn't the point of the film at all.

It's about the hundreds of blows that being "othered" inflict upon a young and fragile sense of human worth, and the dark pearl that can rise from being hated or dismissed or being made small, a nick at a time.

It's about the tragedy of blind loyalty also. It's about a lot of things, some of which you will see, though I have missed.

Good movies are like that.

The acting and filmmaking are very realistic. It's almost like you're watching a documentary. A very important film to see and talk about in today's climate of tragic school shootings in America. Addressing bullying, the consequences of a destructive friendship on a young mind, adolescent alienation and the hardship in processing or communicating inner pain and turmoil as a result, and an adult generation that may be hearing but not actually listening.

This was a profoundly dull movie. It started off on the right foot, but all we saw was this main character Edwin getting bullied by classmates, neighbors, a teacher, his principal, and even his best friend. I liked seeing the closeness between the main character and his younger brother, but that was it. Absolutely nothing significant happened in this movie and no character grew or developed. The parents were just as bad as the bullies and provided no moral compass for their kid.

Here's what could have helped. We see that this young man is good at art. That topic was completely forgotten about. Also the principal suggested the social skills workshop. Why not give this main character the luxury of making more friends and finding his place in the school? The best friend Flake was an obnoxious and cruel kid- it was hard to take him seriously because he never had Edwin's back. Edwin is such a likable kid and was neglected the entire way through.

I will give a bit of praise for Arman Darbo's performance. His narration style and ability to show complex emotions were perfect. He really could be the next Leonardo DiCaprio.