My Suicide, which had its U.S. Premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival, is a mesmerizing feature film with a brilliant script and remarkable editing. It takes one inside the modern American teenagers' world of angst, anger and technology. While it sometimes seems like one is watching an extended You Tube video that is really the way that the style is designed to appear as if it was filmed by a teenager filming the process leading up to his own suicide. The characters draw the audience into the story of teenager Archie Williams masterfully acted by Gabriel Sunday who announces one day in film class that his project is to film his own suicide. The premise is absurd, but so are the reactions. The film ultimately serves to critique the soulless life in middle class suburbia that would lead a bright young man to despair about the value of his own life. In that sense, My Suicide follows in a great tradition of suburban satire that is seen in films like Happiness, American Beauty and, most recently, Revolutionary Road. The writers also manage to use a wide variety of satirical quotes from a variety of modern classics such as Goodfellas, Silence of the Lambs, and Apocalypse Now. They further incorporate animation and public service advertisements.
Ironically, this film which begins as a quest to commit suicide ultimately finds a way to be life-affirming through its exploration of why Archie is suicidal and his burgeoning relationship with Sierra played by the beautiful Brooke Nevin. The acting is generally very good and the filming is excellent. I hope this independent effort is widely distributed. It will be particularly appealing to young people who will relate to its fast-paced editing and style. Archie Williams may well be the Holden Caulfield of the 21st Century.
Ironically, this film which begins as a quest to commit suicide ultimately finds a way to be life-affirming through its exploration of why Archie is suicidal and his burgeoning relationship with Sierra played by the beautiful Brooke Nevin. The acting is generally very good and the filming is excellent. I hope this independent effort is widely distributed. It will be particularly appealing to young people who will relate to its fast-paced editing and style. Archie Williams may well be the Holden Caulfield of the 21st Century.