At present the subject of grieving seems to be presenting itself in various forms. From Gervais' darkly, After Life; the realism version in Somebody Somewhere (HBO); the somewhat comedy side in, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window; and it even touches on the drinking problems for, Single Drunk Female (Disney+). All different forms of grieving that propels the character into some cathartic experience that either entertains, or emotionally drains us.
Screenwriter and author, Jandy Nelson, takes the five stages of grieving and kind of jumbles them up to present a teens world gone topsy-turvy. Through Lennie's deep depths of grieving there are sometimes dark surreal moments. But when music comes into play, (trust me, music is the best medicine when grieving), the dreamy surreal moments are so beautiful that it transports Lennie into a balanced world. These contrasts are utilized so well and used on many occasions throughout the film to show Lennie's state without having to say much.
A film aimed at the teenage market cannot leave out, teen-angst, by falling into a melodrama of some kind. Sky Is Everywhere deals with it sensibly, adding the state of emotional confusion and other teenage dilemmas into the grieving process. Not to forget the adults, Lennie's grandmother and uncle, who seem to be the cliche loving hippy family unit, who at least entertain us, and sometime enlighten us as elders should do in movies.
Through minor stumbles and faults, it still manages to successfully draw us into Lennie's screwed-up grieving world, this is mostly due to Grace Kaufman's heartfelt performance. To help us along the way is Josephine Decker's creative direction (love to see her go wild and surreal in her next project), assisted by Ava Berkofsky's bright colored photography. And on top of that is the cherry on the cream, the music by Caroline Shaw.
As someone who is over fifty, I thought this film would not be my cup of tea. But the surreal magical moments had me in Lennie's palm and I was ready to grieve in her journey, even if I did struggle mid-way through when I kind of woke up from the hypnotic dream that it had cast over me.
