Titreenp
SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?
Brightlyme
i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.
Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
jay-1058
I stumbled across it on Netflix, not expecting much, and was wildly surprised. It's beautiful and very well written and executed. A gorgeously poignant mood permeates the piece throughout, creating a near perfect setting. What could be a timeless story has just the right amount of contemporary sheen and grime and it delivers charm, heart, tears and pain all in enveloping beauty. Well directed, well shot and acted; just lovely really. If you can relate to equal amounts of hopelessness, depression and the blissful joy of life, you'll love this. What a gem by this new filmmaker. No gunfights, no car chases and no explosions, true. It was all done with an engaging story, cast and setting. Nicely sprinkled doses of subtle dark humor are also used just when they're needed. I love this film.
MichaelRusseck
This movie was a gem. I just saw it today, and it was very powerful. Sean Christiansen(sp?) was phenomenal, as was pretty much everyone else including a very invested performance by Paul Wesley (Vampire Diaries) After watching I checked out the background to find out that Sean, the lead was also the writer and director.. what a feat! I was pretty damn impressed by this unknown actor's performance, let alone the direction, and couldn't't help but liken his acting chops to a young Ed Norton (who I also think is great!) I really hope people see this movie... The critics have it underrated, as seen by the user reviews. It was honest in writing, acting, production, etc... a cohesive, unique and moving film... at least for me!
nicciw1987
I saw this film at NorthEast Film Festival in NJ and from the moment this film started I was swept up and there is not a second that your mind wanders, every second of this film is visually stunning and diverse. You can't help but root and fall in love with Richie (Shawn Christensen) as he struggles through the evening's events. The dynamic between him and Sophia (Fatima Ptacek) is like catching lightning in a bottle, they make a fantastic duo. Fatima does a wonderful job of transitioning the younger Sophia from 'Curfew' to a more mature Sophia in 'Before I Disappear'. Even though the story is about a lot struggles and heartache, there are moments that have you laughing out loud. Each supporting character to Richie and Sophia's journey is so well cast. Paul Wesley as Gideon is simply phenomenal, as he creates a very diverse character within only a few appearances on screen. He manages to create so many subtle undertones with a performance that doesn't hit over the head with it, but leaves you with a deeper understanding of the character. Emmy Rossum as Maggie does an outstanding job of creating a real and emotional counterpart as the mother to Sophia's character. Ron Perlman is as fantastic as always and creates a very chilling presence on screen. Hats off to the multi talented Shawn, for directing, starring, writing and composing for this beautiful surprise of a film.
Lowbacca1977
A few years ago, Shawn Christensen won an Oscar for his amazing live- action short called Curfew, focused on a man in despair and contemplating suicide that gets the first chance to spend time with his niece, now around 11 years old. The short was very deserving of that Oscar, and Christensen took an interesting route to build on that by starting with that same initial story and fleshing it out into a full feature length film.On one hand, I would like to see him go into something new with the same finesse that he showed in Curfew, and I feel like there's directions he went here that didn't feel as genuine as some aspects of the same characters in Curfew.On the other hand, though, he kept many of the key moments and feelings from the short, while fleshing out so much more to it. I do also very much like that Fatima Ptacek returns as Tabitha, the niece, as she had a great performance in the short, and she does just as strong of a job here. This film really wouldn't be as strong as it is without her.Christensen plays the lead role as well as directing, and while he's good in front of the camera, it's behind the camera that's really what impresses me. The style and flow of the short was good, but he does so much more here, and there's a very strong visual presence in so many scenes that it really sticks with me. This includes not only some of the more fanciful parts, like an expanded version of the music number from the short to simple shots, like the phone on the floor at the start of the film.What really strikes me is how he managed to take a short and really not dilute it when he extended it out to feature-length, and it still maintains its emotional center, and I think that shows a lot of creativity and skill as both a writer and a director. I really hope that this film does well enough that it opens the doors to more work by Christensen, although I can't help but feel that with the quality of this film, it will do so.
