You Can Live Forever

I didn't know what the movie was about beforehand, thought it'd be a forgettable teen romcom. You might connect more deeply if you're Jehovah's Witness or lesbian audiences, but even if you aren't, you can find familiarities with pretty much any religious community, and a good love story is a good love story, regardless. It does have its fair share of cheesiness and cliches, like the classic meet-cute, locking eyes across a crowded room, albeit set in a church. But who doesn't appreciate a bit of cheesy romance? The story is quite compelling, and the characters share a genuine connection and chemistry.

The beauty and heartbreak in Marike's face, as she navigated love, pain, and unwavering faith, were truly moving. Jaime's struggle as a non-believer and a lesbian in a close-knit Jehovah's Witness community. This film was a quiet and compassionate portrayal, it's relatively short, yet it took its time to build the romantic interest. It might not be best selling point for Jehovah's Witness, but I loved how Marike held onto her faith, especially the line, "I can believe enough for the both of us," which captured her emotional dilemma of choosing between her so unwavering faith and her forbidden first love.

I love that there isn't a clear antagonist among the main characters. It's clear that their situation couldn't lead to a happy ending: if they had run away, Marike would have felt the loss of leaving her faith behind, and if they had stayed, their pretense would have taken an emotional toll, as you can't keep up a charade 'cause you can't be sneaky links with the love of your life forever lol. It was what it was, and I believe it was written and told in a believable and unpretentious manner, allowing you to empathize with the characters' choices and the challenges they faced in their environment.

While it may not be a mind-blowing masterpiece, could see why some might not like it, but it made me feel mushy inside and left a lasting impact for me. June Laporte and Anwen O'Driscoll portrayed their characters exceptionally well. Also loved the title's meaning. This movie felt like a little quiet hidden gem, perhaps better off unnoticed by the masses.

The movie started and took top gear within matter of minutes. I felt few scenes were just for the sake, but that's okay. Eventually, all that hurry was to get straight to one point: the chemistry between the two leads.

Frankly, there was nothing new in this movie - be it storyline or the social boundaries against a critical subject - we have all seen tons of such stuff before and maybe watch more in coming time.

However that's what worked: the girls were sweet, they acted well, i felt that the evolving chemistry between them was realistic, and at last, an obvious emotional detour was bound to happen which held weight. I rate this movie 7/10.

One time watchable.

For me this is a great movie acting of both girls is amazing and the tension between them is amazing how they met how they develop feelings for each others is shown beautifully storyline is not we we expect it to be but overall the movie is great and worth watching🌟

This movie is the saddest one I have seen in a while.

The actors have played their roles perfectly.

The emotional tension between the main actors is intense.

The way the girls develop feelings for each other over time is just fabulous.

The movie is 1 hour 36 minutes duration.

In my opinion, it is worth watching.

The Canadian film You Can Live Forever was co-written and co-directed directed by Sarah Watts and Mark Slutsky.

Anwen O'Driscoll portrays Jaime, a teenager who is sent to live with her aunt after her father's death. Her aunt and uncle are Jehovah's Witnesses.

Jaime develops a romantic relationship with Marike (June Laporte). Marike is also part of the Jehovah's Witness community. It's not a community that accepts lesbian love, and the path forward isn't easy.

This is an extraordinary film. The acting is excellent and the plot is believable. The movie has a very strong IMDb rating of 7.5. I thought that it was even better than that, and rated it 9.

We saw this movie as part of Rochester's outstanding ImageOut LGBTQ film festival.