Relish

A coming-of-age story that really shows diversity among teens! Love this film! Relish is smart, emotional, funny and promotes inclusion for teenagers who feel like they are alone. It's such an important movie. I recommend it to anyone looking for an exciting road trip film that is fun, poignant and unpredictable. It was so refreshing to see a movie about teenagers that feels real, authentic and emotionally grounded. Dealing with real issues we all deal with daily! All the actors were amazing, subtle and extremely relatable.

The entire cast was spectacular! The characters were so relatable, and I was rooting for ALL of them the whole time. I got so caught up in the road trip and their issues, I never knew where it was going to got next. The actors were so vulnerable and raw. I loved the strength of Kai, especially when he fought back against the bullies! Great movie for our time! Thank you for making this film! Thank you for placing a trans actor in a leading role and not making him weak or a victim!!!

My friends and I loved this movie. We all could relate to these characters. A little slow to start, but then ramps up fast! We all loved it!!!

I was able to see this movie at the Burbank International Film Festival. With a short introduction to the characters in the Youth Facility, the action really gets started when the 5 break out and start on their adventure.

You can see the clashes of personality between Kai (Tyler DiChiara) and Levi (Mateus Ward) adding a bit of tension to the excitement of the escape. In the time on the road, the characters start to realize that there is more common ground once they peel back the layers.

Loved when Aspen (Hana Hayes) comes clean to Sawyer (Chelsea Zhang) that everything that looks perfect in my life is fake. Such a great point of the movie. And young Theo (Rio Mangini) seems so out of place, though he becomes the glue of the group.

I enjoyed some of the one liners by the supporting cast that you can easily have a love/hate relationship with. The crowd in the theater had some laugh out loud moments, which helped to lighten some of the more serious moments.

Overall, this movie, written and directed by Justin Ward, was a great peek into the lives of 5 youth who are dealing with their own issues. I felt Tyler DiChiara really opened up and shared with us his transition and the difficulty of being accepted within his own generation.

Looking forward to seeing this movie again and sharing with friends.

The most unlikely group of troubled Adolescence thrust them selves into an adventure together and Navigate through the obstacles placed in front of them. With spectacular performances by these five actors, and a script that continually surprised me as it revealed more and more about these kids, I felt connected and compassionate toward each and every one of them. Story telling at its finest.