Rid of Me

The opening scene, as is mentioned in many reviews, is not the "hook" they intended, and you might click your Roku back to Menu, but give it a chance and this film will break your heart. It's so real and true, I've met all these people, I've even been some of them. The directing is subtle and jumps around like a mosaic, but I got it. And the awkwardness is well done. This is a terrible comparison, but think of the silent, awkward moments in The Office. Instead of being funny, these situations are so cruel but so real and familiar that you believe them. We've all encountered these things at some point, but here, no one steps in for the downtrodden protagonist. She's left out in the cold over and over again. It's one of those films you stay with until the end of the credits.

Advertised as a black comedy, and that's all, "Rid of Me" suggests that there is an event or plot twist that should not be revealed. And indeed it does open with an obscene, aberrant action which most people have the little bit of self-restraint required to never perform such an act. Following that opening sequence, the film reveals two subtle twists which show how unique and independent this is.

After the first scene, our sympathies are forced to suddenly and dramatically shift. That's because they make you realize that we all make character judgements before we even get to know the character. I thought that was very brilliant and kept me watching. Secondly, Meris (Katie O'Grady) is like a normal person and has experienced the same sort of life events that others have. What makes this unique is that we see her thought processes as she tries to balance what has happened with what is "fair" — you know, that pesky thing that kids are taught what life is.

Meris suffers from depression. She tries to be happy, she tries to make friends, but that's hard especially for someone who suffers from depression. "Rid of Me" is a character study fused with dark comedy elements. With everything that she goes through, life finds a way of getting worse for her. But the film managed this by interspersing comic relief with the depression, but also finding new actions and new consequences for her to experience.

The production design is bleak, but that fits with the bleakness of Meris' situation and the low budget they had to work with. I was so intrigued by where they were going with Meris' character that I wasn't distracted by any of the off-putting elements of the film. I'm usually not a fan of jumpy filming and editing, and while I still didn't like it here, at least they used it in relevant places. Some of the supporting acting was weak and lessened the impact of at least one scene in particular.

But this film is not about the supporting actors or characters. This film is about Meris and Katie O'Grady. To me the character of Meris was a revelation —that's how you write depressing character studies. And O'Grady put her all into this character. I loved how you could see Meris change and stay true to herself all at the same time within her eyes.

Some people probably aren't willing to have someone like Meris as a movie heroine, but it was one of the first times I could connect to a depressed woman and have hope for realistic optimism. "Rid of Me" is minimal, bleak and off-putting, but it's also a unique, original dark comedy character study.

This film was not perfect. Neither was yours. It was, however, tender and enlightening if viewers would allow themselves to really see the story being told. The film was "all over the place" and the protagonist, that's the main character to you and me, was "gratingly child-like" as some professional critics have said because that's what your life is like when you have lost yourself and your heart aches and you wonder if you will ever be o.k. That's it. The acting doesn't have to be great, the story is. This movie will touch you and give you hope if you just let it. I think more people would be more adjusted if they let themselves go to the brink of existence, go a little crazy and open their eyes to who they can become.

This is bound to become a cult hit! At first, it does warn you in a small way that it is going to be dark but when that first awkward moment comes, it is a bit of a shocker.

Then as the movies moves along, you realize that there is a part of you and probably everyone that has been in the protagonist's position of feeling uncomfortable when you realize the person you love is now presenting themselves through the friends they have and the yoke is NOT even.

I will probably watch this flick more than 3 or 4 times as I can already tell that it has a charm, though awkward, that keeps one drawn to seeing it more than once.

Rid of Me is an experience. Be prepared to cringe, laugh and maybe cry, because Katie O'Grady makes this journey devastatingly real. As Meris, she conjures the realization of our worst fears and insecurities and demonstrates the graceless and mortifying path back to redemption. There's no romanticizing the painful detours a life can take in this film and there's really nothing tidy and formulaic about it.

Definitely something different. And me, I love this stuff. As gut-wrenching as it was to watch at times, it was also full of quirky characters and well-timed comic relief.

Good stuff!