Love You Anyway

source: Love You Anyway

The subject of this movie was interesting. A young girl deals with depression and feeling like a failure in life. It is a familiar subject that affects many young women and men. The problem with this movie was the way it was filmed. The amateur style shaky cam, filmed on a phone, works for a few minutes but becomes hard to watch after 20 minutes. Maybe they could have used that footage when the lead actress was sharing her honest thoughts to the audience and then used a normal film camera for everything else. The main actress Reign Edwards who plays Mackzenie did a good job portraying this troubled teenager. She seemed authentic and showed how a distressed teenager might feel. However, some of her scenes where she talks into the camera lasted a little too long. Also, the camera phone was too close to her face in some scenes. The movie does a great job of showing this strong bond and friendship between Mackzenie and her best friend, Lucas, played by Charlie Gillespie. After watching Charlie Gillespie in the Netflix tv show 'Julie and the phantoms', it would have been nice to see his character singing and playing the guitar with Mac. Since Charlie is a good singer and musician. It would have been another thing to show Mac and Lucas's bond. However, the movie fails to show the transition from Mac and Lucas going from friends to lovers. This is one of my favourite tropes and it felt like it was just tacked on at the end of the movie. One minute, the actors are hanging out and Mac drops Lucas off at the airport. Then suddenly we see them kissing outside the car, we hear no dialogue. Then the next time they are together, Lucas is taking pictures of Mac. Then it skips to them sitting in a car and they are married. Then, their baby is born. This all happens in the last final minutes of the movie. There is no emotional payoff when Mac and Lucas become a couple. There are no scenes of them hugging or kissing (except for the airport scene). It seemed like an afterthought that was added in later by the scriptwriter. The movie is not worth a perfect 10 star rating, that is reserved for exceptional movies. However, it was not a terrible movie. I will look out for more movies starring these two actors. I think Charlie is talented and hasn't been given the right role to show off his range and talent yet.

There is a reason why fake documentary-style amateur footage isn't strung together to make movies. After 5-10 minutes of it, most people are sick of the shaky cam, poor framing, and disjointed feel as we jump from scene to scene. There is a visual beauty element to movies that is sorely lacking here thanks to all of the faux-amateur footage. As for the sad coming of age story, it could have been okay if presented in a more conventional manner. The heavy subject matter becomes somewhat maudlin and hard to take seriously thanks to the filming gimmick.

This is not your typical "teenager goes through depression" kind of movie. This is an unique movie that takes a turn on how you approach mental health from the point of view of those who are struggling with it. The fact that it is on "home videos" format just adds to it, because we get to peek inside the characters' most intimate thoughts and you begin to understand and relate a lot to what they go through. It's an honest mental health journey, it's raw and it has so much depth to the dialogues and monologues. Reign Edwards and Charlie Gillespie delivered brilliant performances, they really gave the life it needed to the friendship, the love and the meaning of having someone to just be there for you mo matter what. Amazing job from the cast and crew, it's worth every minute.

Charlie gillespie and reign Edward's were fantastic. I was swept away by their onscreen friendship. I could relate to the struggles gillespie was amazing he made me cry and feel his emotions.

This film was a part of the Six Feet Apart experiment and was filmed by the cast with iPhones at the height of pre-vaccine COVID. I loved the unique take on seeing what someone with depression at that age goes through both through her own eyes but also through the eyes of her life long best friend. As someone who has struggled with mental health issues for most of my life, I enjoyed seeing this young beautiful cast play people who seem to have perfect lives deal with true crippling depression and how it affects not just the one suffering but also those who love her. Nobody has a perfect life no matter how it looks from the outside. And this movie deals with actual depression, addiction, and negative coping mechanisms used to deal with life throwing you a curveball. We all act and react in different ways and this movie shows that. It also shows that with the right treatment there is happiness to be found. The character Lucas Parker played by Charlie Gillespie put it perfectly. "It feels really great to feel great... again"! LOVED this movie. So glad I bought it.

Fresh! Beautiful! Sweet! Painful! Relieving! Heartwarming! Some of the words that best describes Love You Anyway. Although I can say that the movie is not for everybody but it does hit right in my feels for me. When I was about the same age as Lucas and Mac, I sort of had the same situation, suicidal thoughts, the drinking, but I got passed that now. For those who hadn't been through the same situation, they may find the movie just "good" but for someone who's been in it, and did not show any signs til it was too late to family and friends, it was a beautiful movie that seemed like the story was ripped out of my journal in my teen years. Mental health is vital, and not a lot of people know that or acknowledge that, and that's why I applaud the creator and crew of the film for showcasing and giving us this movie. I recommend it to people who've been and are in a tricky mental debate, struggle, and situation, AND I also recommend it for those who know people going through it. Great job to Charlie and Reign, and to all the cast and crew for the emotions portrayed in the film. Oh and, I cried a lot. At 3am! LIKE A LOT! It's such a fresh take on movie directing too, and most of the time, I got the feels as my mind sort of forgot that they were just acting. Damn I even yelled NO when a specific scene came. And, it's so freaking painful to see Charlie in pain and in tears, my mind thought it was a real video when he was only acting. It's just magnificent! I love the film.

Loved this film! Reign Edwards is amazing as Mackenzie! Wonderfully written story about 2 of the most prevalent issues so many young people face today. Highly recommend!

10/10 review is always an alarm bell as few if any movies justify that score, i tried to watch based on the almost 8 rating from reviews, which i think must be from members of the cast & shall quickly be found out to be false and given it's more appropriate rating of below 5, a 5 and above being a watchable movie. There is nothing of interest here, just boring disjointed nonsense with no redeeming qualities, nor interest at all. 3 for effort, but really 1 or 2 would be equally justifiable. It's just bland uninteresting rubbish, & the ridiculous high ratings from friends or actors in the movie just highlight that, your fooling no one, but yourselves.

What a journey they both take you on! Some moments were hard to watch. Yet relevant to what so many of us have lived & survived in our own families. Thank you for bringing awareness to teen suicide & mental health. And thank you for giving us the gift of Charlie Gillespie on the screen. Kept hoping he would sing too. He's so talented & gifted. Draws you in every time.