Allen Sunshine

This film creates a place for grief and peace to exist and even create joy. This film is a very special place to visit. I've seen Allen Sunshine three times now and I want to give a shout out to the sonic experience of this film as well. It really is all around a film that takes care of my heart. Thank you, Allen Sunshine.

Allen Sunshine moves with quiet power, every frame composed like a painting in its color, texture, and symbolism. It follows Allen, a man grieving in the woods, searching for renewal through an experimental practice of turning nature's silence into sound. What he doesn't expect is that the friendship of two young boys becomes the true catalyst for his healing. Harley Chamandy brings it all together with a vision that is both tender and fearless, filled with beauty, pain, and transformation.

Allen Sunshine absolutely blew me away. It's such a heartfelt, beautifully made film - one of those rare movies where everything just clicks. Harley Chamandy did an incredible job bringing this story to life. It's seriously impressive how he pulled off so many tricky parts - amazing performances from the child actors, the dog actors, even big fireworks and boating scenes that can be so hard to get right - and he nailed all of it.

The whole movie feels real, emotional, and full of heart. Every shot, every moment feels intentional without ever feeling forced. You can tell how much care went into every detail. I'm already excited to see what Harley Chamandy does next. Allen Sunshine is a total must-watch.

Allen Sunshine truly delves into what it means to be human. Wonderfully simplistic, it never tries to be anything it is not, yet I found its effect on me to be profound, to say the least. As I, and everyone who will see this movie in some way shape or form, have been impacted by suicide, Allen Sunshine invites us to ponder the preciousness of life and the importance of human connection.

An impressive performance by the leading man, he subtly and outstandingly portrays the nuances of grief in a way that felt entirely genuine. Aesthetically, every shot was a painting. I felt the strong urge to jump through the screen and jam on that synth collection in that gorgeous wooden cabin.

A Marvellous debut by this young Director, can't wait to see what's next.

Harley Chamandy's first feature hit me like a memory you don't want to let go of. It's about grief, but not in the loud, obvious way. The film sits in sunlight, in the texture of wood, in glances that linger longer than words. It moves slow, but that's the point you're asked to sit with it, not rush past it.

Vincent Leclerc carries the heart of the story. His performance isn't flashy, but that's what makes it stick. Around him, side characters drift in and out like echoes. Chamandy builds the world with small details the sound of a door, the silence between lines until you feel the weight of what isn't said more than what is.

Allen Sunshine feels like a throwback to when films trusted their audience to pay attention. It reminded me of Kelly Reichardt's patience and Spike Jonze's quiet comfort, but it's also its own thing, intimate, almost sacred in how it looks at loss.

In a time where movies are usually too loud, too fast, too desperate for your attention, this one asks you to slow down. And when it ends, you might not even know exactly what you felt. You just know it stays with you.

That's what real cinema does.