The nature of the pain of loss This tear-squeezing teenage melodrama deals with a complex subject: it attempts to explore the nature of the suffering of a person who has lost a loved one. The film touches on many aspects of the problem, exaggerating something, something – not, but often the thought caught remains unthought out to the end, the other is embodied in a lot of cliches and stereotypes. The romantic component of the picture is seriously muffled by a very reliably transmitted pain loss, in connection with which it cannot be considered the main one here.
The main character Riley, who lost her lover in a car accident, embodies the collective image of a person experiencing the death of a loved one and making all imaginable mistakes in this difficult period of time. One of the most common is not to let go of the deceased, cherish your pain, experience it every minute, mistakenly believing that the so necessary memory of the departed is in the pain of the living, that it is worth cooling it down, calming it down, and the memory will also evaporate, go away, and the remaining one will thereby betray the deceased. This moment is visualized not only as the never-ending experiences of the girl, but also as the ghost of her beloved, and this stereotype is that it is not the living who hold the dead, but on the contrary, and here it is shown literally. Excessive attachment to the past, gone and gone and in the present life does not benefit the living. To live in the past, closing oneself from the world in one’s grief, is to take away one’s future, and Riley at some point literally spits out the word like a poisonous snake, with disgust: “The future!”, quite sincerely believing that to think about it, to have it at all, is a betrayal of Chris who left this world. It is quite reliably shown how life drop by drop leaves a young and pretty girl, and this is manifested not only in the play of the actress, but also in the circles under the eyes, constant nervous tension and the desire for loneliness. However, the idea of the film, associated with the influence of the contact between the other and the living worlds, is not shown very specifically. The viewer can guess that something is wrong, from a small scene in the bathroom, but a weak demonstration of this idea on the example of Riley – and it kills her grief, which is considered by the viewer – forces you to say literally what is what, and such directness, not gradual understanding, does not benefit the film.
An important feature that complements the general sad mood of the film is the circumstances of the car accident. This is an emphasised demonstration of the template thinking of the living, that they are to blame, that they could change something - a slippery and hopeless road to a deep depression. Riley predictably reflects on the subject, but not very actively, and the oppressive sense of guilt manifests itself in a couple of tantrums and a trip to Chris' mother, but no more. In such situations, it is important to make the sufferer realize his own innocence, but this line is poorly revealed, despite the encouraging attributes of the police officer investigating the case and relatives trying to save their beloved daughter. Riley remembers the details of the accident – the key details – but she doesn’t suddenly or gradually come to the realization that she can forgive herself, that she’s not to blame, even though you expect that. The logic of innocence does not fit one detail, apparently completely in vain added to this picture, since it somewhat destroys this idea, namely, previous events, including unacceptable violation of the rules of the road while driving. It does not matter that this did not lead to the accident and the tragic outcome, it is important that it casts a shadow on the role of Riley in what happened, and this shadow is unnecessary and in vain.
Another poorly used detail is Riley's artistic talent. The problem with her talent for drawing is that she uses it to heal the wound over and over again, to torture herself, not to overcome the pain and move on. It turns out that creativity does not save the girl, but destroys, and this is an extremely unsuccessful presentation of the topic. At some point, it seems, the authors themselves realized that they were getting into a dead end, they add a frame with – literally – an inverted page, but Riley continues to draw again and again, without taking a clearly visualized chance to start with a clean slate. Even if we assume that creativity should be preserved at least from the traditional point of view, then we still need to change something, for example, to leave the style of drawing in the past. Let the comics be left behind, and now, for example, there will be some abstractionism. But, alas, the authors could not get out of the hole into which they drove themselves.
Chris and his non-departure also have an unfortunate storyline. It would seem that the ghost can keep something on the ground, and it is quite obvious through his contacts with Riley that it is her. But then the film makes some strange coup, and now Chris not with regret, but with resentment and anger remembers his father. A couple of meaningless scenes and what? The subject of the father remains undisclosed. It was touched, tried, contrary to all logic, to make the key, could not adequately develop and, literally, hushed up. It is better not to show anything at all than to show it like this.
As for the other world and its rules, they do not seem to exist. Merry ghost guide nothing new and key to the viewer does not convey. Moreover, some scenes generate unanswered questions, such as the strange man at the beginning of the picture. Why is he? Where'd he go? For example, the film reveals the true reasons for the stay of a ghost-funman for decades, shows the purpose, but this hero - in no way. As does not disclose the reasons why Chris could linger, they can only make assumptions of varying degrees of logic. So this part can safely be considered a failure.
The pair of Chris and Riley themselves are not very “chemical”: their love is shown by running, then both fall into suffering. Paradoxically, their very background suggests that what happened is a natural, albeit cruel, solution to the problem for them. Fate here cuts the Gordian knot when any move is wrong and painful. The fact that these two do not fit each other in their situation gives the survivor hope for the future, while otherwise there would be a bitter residue from lost forever true love. Here you just don't believe she really was, the feelings seem just teenage maximalism.
Visually, the film is full of cliches: these are drawn comics, and cooking in an embrace, suspiciously reminiscent of the famous “Ghost”, and the cause of all troubles, and a couple of “princess and beggar”. Touching on a serious topic, the film was not everywhere able to adequately reveal it. The actors are very cute, but don't stand out, just complementing the big picture. And even after watching, there is not light sadness, but some heaviness on the soul. The atmosphere is oppressive.