As You Are

"As You Are" is one of those rare films that comes along every two or three years that really resonates with the viewer through its pure unabashed story telling and painful true to life's circumstances.

This inspired coming of age film, set in the early to mid 90's is about a single Mom and her son who welcome to their home a man (dating the mother) and his son and the sons become best friends. They are teenagers and cut from the same cloth, so they get attached very quickly. There are several facets to the story line and plot I will not divulge so as to not spoil the film for potential viewers.

The film progresses through a taut and harrowing undercurrent of brewing violence and uncertainty from the Adult Man figure and thus, his son rebels and it affects his new friend/roommate/brother of sorts, as Well as the Mother figure. The film illustrates the difficulties teen's face when subjected to ridicule for being outsiders and struggling with their own sexuality. Not to mention Having to deal with an unstable home environment.

The story is told from the perspective of a detective interviewing various members of the cast through the eye of a camera's lens, which Is not made clear till the end of the film. the film. This is tackled by the detectives interviews with the various characters portrayed throughout.

Acting and Direction was fabulous. Plot and story line tight and told with gritty realism. It addresses some difficult subject matter and by no means is it a "feel good movie", but one well worth watching.

I applaud the Director And actors alike for telling a story not easily told or accepted as mainstream popular. There should be more films like "As you are", made.

A definite recommendation for anyone tired of the commercial garbage typically pumped daily by large production Co.'s and big name Media giants.

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 loved this movie. The acting was great, as was the cinematography. Best coming of age story I've seen in a long, long time. I can't believe this was the director's first film! More details below. It was great seeing Mary Stuart Masterson on the big screen again. She does a wonderful job as a vulnerable, yet still sexy, single mom. Scott Cohen is very believable as the tough, bullying military-type dad. And the actors who play the 3 teenage friend are all fantastic! I remember Amanda Stenberg from "Hunger Games", and she is wonderful as the smart, yet isolated, adopted daughter of a white family. Owen Campbell deserves an Oscar for his fantastic performance as Mary Stuart Masterson's lonely but loving son. And watch out for British actor Charlie Heaton, whose strong acting and brooding good looks are reminiscent of a young James Dean or Marlon Brando. Last but not least, I can't wait to see future films directed by the young prodigy Miles Joris-Peyrafitte. Oh, and he was the screenwriter too, along with his friend and co-author Madison Harrison. In summary, a great film, well-directed, well-produced and well-acted.

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.

A delicate, careful, deep, well made drama movie which deal with the complexities of issues such as youth, sexuality, violence, prejudice, friendship, love, sadness, anger, self knowledge.