All the Bright Places Review: A Soulful and a Heartwarming Tale!

In the wake of creators producing teen romance movies loaded with innumerable erotic scenes, there are only a very few films that explore the emotions of the young adults and care to give a proper character development, ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ to quote an example for. Adding to that promising list is ‘All the Bright Places,’ directed by Brett Haley based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Jennifer Niven.

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All the Bright Places stars Elle Fanning, as Violet Markey, a high school teen who is coping up with post-traumatic stress upon meeting with an accident and losing her elder sister. The film also stars Justice Smith as Theodore Finch, who was mentally and physically abused as a kid. They both come across each other in an unexpected situation and end up being project partners at school. The remainder of the movie details how they both recover from their mental illness.

The main aspect of the All the Bright Places is that the script is refreshing and doesn’t direct itself to the mainstream way. There was a ton of scope for character development, and the director and screenwriters have used it to the fullest potential.

Although the movie’s runtime is under 120 minutes, the narrative advances at its own pace giving us an ample amount of time to indulge ourselves thoroughly into the movie and experience everything that’s happening on-screen.

Writers Jennifer Niven and Liz Hannah have done a critical yet excellent job in adapting the novel for a two-hour film as they didn’t compromise on anything to make it as a feature-film and beautifully expressed what they have intended.

Brett Haley skillfully handled the relationship, love, and romance between the two leads, and it was a delight to watch the chemistry shared between Elle Fanning and Justice Smith. They both have done their part charmingly and makes us fall in love with them.

And the selection of songs that played all along the movie and the violin portions towards the end of the film added perfectly to alter the mood of the audience. As the main subject of the film is about people suffering from mental illness, Haley subtly conveyed the underlying message and created a lasting impact.

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Even though the movie might not please the general audience, if you would like to watch something emotional, meaningful and hug your loved one and cry, then ‘All the Bright Places’ would be your perfect pick. The movie ticks every box required to make it a soulful movie, which would linger in your mind for a while. Watch ‘All the Bright Places’ on Netflix here.

Rating – 4/5 | Grade – A

Images via Netflix