As You Are

This is the best film i have ever seen...the filming! the editing!! the story!!! heartbreaking and tender and wonderful. i wish i could have learned a little more about jack and sarah's backstories though. otherwise i H I G H L Y recommend this to everyone i know on planet earth. loved it. loved it loved it loved it.

As You Are is a powerful, emotional and wonderfully directed movie. In the film, all characters personalities were deeply flawed, and clearly this young trio were trying their best to figure out the world around them, as well as themselves and their sexualities. Watching this movie i found the natural chemistry between all 3 of the young actors; Charlie Heaton, Owen Campbell and Amandla Stenberg was so obvious and made the characters they depicted so realistic and connected. The director, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte knew what this movie should be and executed it amazingly. the dark and depressive, yet quietly beautiful mood was obvious throughout the whole film. The soundtrack, which Joris-Peyrafitte also had a hand in matched this tone astonishingly well. Listening to it by itself is positively haunting and paired with the cinematography and performances of these talented actors made for a treat. The plot is slow, but the quiet moments between the drama is welcomed and balanced well. I do have a soft spot for gay "love" story films, especially for those set in the 90's. I use the term love loosely because it isn't what this movie is about. On paper, maybe. But the themes of mental health, politics, growing up, nostalgia are sprinkled artfully throughout and give the movie much more depth. As well as this, the choice of setting the story in a police interview, looking back was smart, as it envelopes the whole film in mystery and suspicion until the very last moment, but this last moment still leaves viewers questioning and confused. (as well as emotional and crying for me ;-;) I love love loved As You Are and can watch it 3 more times and it will still have the same imprint on me as the first time i watched it, and the more times i do, I just grow to love the setting, characters and cinematography more and more.

Miles Joris-Peyrafitte does a spectacular job in conveying the complex emotions of his teenage characters. The film does its best to relate to viewers while also making them largely uncomfortable; in the best way possible for the story. While it does follow in the traditional route most LGBT coming-of-age movies in their ways of sadness and struggle with self-acceptance, it does so rather tastefully.

However, it does seem that I am one of the few folks who enjoy the way the movie has split up its time-line. Similar to Dunkirk, the director makes a bold choice in shifting between the present interviews and past memories. This makes what viewers tend to believe as the climax or "end of the story" a prevalent force throughout. While I do agree that the foreshadowing could have been done with just a tad more mystery, I do not believe that doing so was what the cast intended with the story. Therefore, I feel there should be a respect for the decision to leave the ending so raw and out in the open.

As it begins, As You Are opens wounds and has you hoping for even more heart-warming moments but leaves you glad it is done exactly the way it is. It truly opens discussions on many topics and while not necessarily happy, the film touches its audience with its profound messages. This film is definitely worth the watch.

When I saw the trailer, I thought the story they were suggesting was compelling enough to go see it. Then I see the movie and come to realize what the trailer was selling was only the tip of the ice berg on how rich and intelligent this film is. It's rare that a trailer that only shows one layer of the film has a movie that still has many good layers to see, and has a great story that was not fully reveled in the trailer.

First and foremost, it's a coming of age story about Jack, whose an awkward teenager living in a small town in the mid-90s going through that phase of trying to find yourself (Somewhat with the words of Kurt Corbain. hence the title). Then he finds a companion in Mark, someone going through the same thing, making him easy to talk to. This part of the movie is done perfectly. It's the part most, if not all of us can relate to. Then Mark and Jack's relationship gets complicated as they explore a part of it that's beyond friendship.

Adding to the complexity is Sarah, a girl who completes a tribunal of friendship as she likes both boys equally(but does gravitate more towards one over the other), and Mark's dad Tom whose courting Jack's mom, who comes off as a well meaning man whose too hard on Mark and too macho to be of any good to either teenage boy.

And as interesting as this layered story is there is also the layer that goes over gun control. Filmed as a flashback of the characters being integrated by a police officer, the movie does spark an interesting conversation over guns. It literally goes from a innocent scene of a man teaching youths how to properly handle firearms to bringing up an issue of how harmful a gun can be in emotional unstable hands.

As You Are is a great film. It's the type of movie that's real relatable on a lot of levels and it makes you want to talk about it (Very Similar to the band and the type of music the characters listen to in the film). One of my favorite coming of age stories.

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I watched this movie based off the suggestions: Perks of Being a Wallflower, Little Miss Sunshine, and Everything Sucks. It was the same level of sadness as Perks of Being a Wallflower, but with the realism of Little Miss Sunshine & decade piece feel of Everything Sucks. It is placed in the time period around Kurt Cobain's death, which is given a nod in the title of the movie. It's a coming-of-age film with emphasis on relationships, violence, and compassion. If you need to shed a tear, this movie will probably destroy you. Overall, a decent drama giving perspective to multiple layer themes. 7/10.