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.

There is quite a good film here, from excellent cinematography to a brilliantly lo-key cast. The screenwriter and director should be commended for creating a film which is both a convincing coming-of-age drama (set around 1994), and a rumination on reality and truth. Whether it was influenced directly by Kurosawa's Rashomon is unclear, but the similarities are too striking to not be commented on. Formally, As You Are can be seen as a formal imitation of Rashomon, as it is structured upon a murder investigation, chapterized by the interrogations of the law official, and different flashbacks developing the story, but without ever coming to straight out answers to the mystery. A director could do worse than imitate and develop structures and themes first put on film by the great Japanese master. And this fine film results in a brilliant homage, rather than a plagiarized pastiche.

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.

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.