I thought this indie film was impressive for many reasons, but it was the performances by the two lead actors that made this film work.
The performances of Katerina Eichenberger and Max MacKenzie were believable in their respective roles and connected quite well with one another making their lifelong friendship believable. Eichenberger takes on the role of the supportive, yet strongminded friend. She hit the marks all the way through the film.
MacKenzie had the challenge of conveying the believability of being a depressed teen dealing with a dysfunctional parent. MacKenzie's character believes that taking his life is the only way out of ending his troubles. No spoilers here... so give it a watch.
The young director/DP, did a good job with the shots he chose to tell this dramatic tale. He has a good eye for how to tell a story cinematically, so he deserves a lot of credit for having those skills at such a young age. It can be a challenge to take on both key jobs of directing as well as being the cinematographer. This is not something that I've seen in recent memory.
Mechanically, I thought the film looked professional, specifically with the lighting. The sound quality was good, with only minor interruptions.
The screenplay, by Layla O'Shea was an original take on such a tramatic subject. The editor did a good job piecing the story together. I was also impressed with some of the music that I heard too.
We must remember that independent filmmaking is quite the undertaking to say the least, there are many factors that need to be considered when watching these films, as we do not have the inflated budgets of Hollywood Productions.
