Still Here

Johnny Whitworth is raw and unfiltered. He grounds the reality of his scenes and steps into a vulnerability and humanity anchoring the darker moments of Still Here. Maurice McRae, although theatrical at times, brings heartbreak and despair to a very tough role. The circumstances of this script are heavy, and the weight of the world is showcased. There is an energy present in this film that supports and empowers white privilege. Vlad Feier, a filmmaker with an obligation to tell his perspective of the truth skews the importance of this topic with exaggerated earnestness. Hollywood has used the white savior trope for a long time as a structure to tell stories of POC. This false and limited perspective is damaging and ego driven with the "intention" of supporting Black stories. The continuation of this narrative is not in support of what it claims it stands for but rather of White people who carry the god complex. Some of the performances are over the top and there are slight technical issues, (i.e. breaking 180 line). The V.O.'s were not necessary and distracted from the behavior of the two leads.

Still Here is difficult to watch at times but hopefully the emotion of a father looking for his missing daughter will impact all audiences regardless.

Having good intentions is not always a guarantee of making a good movie - unless you are good at what you do. 'Still here' looked promising on paper but comes in as a difficult watch on many levels - including, messy editing, direction, photography, and a poorly realised script - featuring very few convincing situations and many unfocused characters. It comes across as another excuse to push the agenda of the unhelpful law and its big bad white guy type policing...offering little more than supposition to back up its accusations.

Then, as if attempting to add some form of balance, one of the white detectives is shown in a detailed scene having an unexplained change of heart - but of course, his epiphany results in changing nothing, next we see of him he's right back to his nasty ol self. These types of character inconsistencies tend to continue across the board.

Most acting is from the over the top school of expression - while some of this might sometimes work, overall , it's ultimately tiresome. The story is claimed as based on facts but these 'facts' come across as manufactured and mostly unbelievable (especially the resolution). Pity, as it offers the odd good line, and might have been better if given a sure-handed approach. A pile-on of endless foul language adds nothing to the general proceedings.

Superb acting from a largely unknown (by me, anyway) cast. Engaging and involving story. I have to say I'm always more compelled to watch movies based on true events. This one held me throughout. As a side note fans of Zazie Beetz (the one face I DID recognise) should be aware her role is of a 'Cameo' nature and lasts only a couple of minutes. Great film.

The acting and the photography are both marvelous. I was in awe during the whole movie. It is heartbreaking (and very reveling) to live a story like this through the perspective of real people, specially in a time where this is a reality for so many others in the world.

The 2 main detectives were horrible actors. I couldn't take them and it was hard to overlook. i would rate this an 8 but they brought it down. It was a good movie though, main characters were great, (Father and Reporter) If you can get past the over acting and try hard detectives (especially Johnny Holm) you'll love it.