Before I Disappear (2014)

What makes it different from others?

Truly Dreadful Film

just watch it!

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Firstly, I came to this movie without having seen "Curfew". Several commentators have pointed out that that is important in the way you see this movie so I'll get that out of the way to start with. I checked out the user score (7.2 at time of writing) and the Meta score (47/100 at time of writing). A bit of a mismatch I thought and maybe it was down to the film being "upped" by users. (We all know it happens right? Reviewers who come out of nowhere and submit one review giving a film 10 / 10 and then disappear as quickly as they appeared. All's fair in love and marketing). Anyway, as a result I decided to take a chance on it but with some reservations at the back of my mind and not really expecting anything that would really get me. What followed was rare, the realisation that the users had nailed it and the critics had really come down way too hard on this movie for all the wrong reasons. "Underwhelming, inconsistent, superfluous, bloated, meandering, posey, abrasive, over amped" to mention a few of the words used. I really don't know what film they were watching. Shawn Christensen, the writer, director and star of this film has already picked up an Oscar in 2013 for best Live Action Short but this film is dismissed as "not a bad freshman effort"? Ignore the critics and take a chance on this one. If you go in with an open mind and let yourself go with it's unusual flow you might really enjoy it. Finally, the cast were uniformly good. Fatima Ptacek, who I hadn't come across before, was brilliant, certainly one to watch, and Ron Perlman was Ron Perlman, nobody does that better than him.

Richie is so stressed out with all the combinations of missing his girl Vista, out of a job, and most dominantly drugs consumption effects. He knows that this can out right be his last day to live due to being out of money to get more drugs. Suddenly his distanced sister Maggie calls, yelling at her asking for a favor to pick up her daughter Sophia from school. Richie and Maggie hasn't contact each other for about five years. But Richie agrees to help. Looking dosed, he picks up Sophia, who immediately emits a very non-friendly aura on him. Richie goes home after Sophia tells him he can do so. At home he finds out that his friend wrongly supplied menopausal treatment pills to him.Maggie calls her again, furious to know that Richie left Sophia alone. Richie then picks up Sophia and takes her away from Maggie's apartment on Maggie's orders due to her being arrested. He tells Sophia that he used to draw cartoon on flip books. One of the characters he created was named Sophia, which Maggie really liked. Richie doesn't want Sophia In his place, so he takes her to other places instead. He takes her to a bowling alley but she prefers to do her homework there. The alley's owner Gideon asks Richie about Gideon's girl, to which he doesn't answer completely honest. Richie then takes Sophia to his ex apartment to retrieve his old flip books but the visit terrifies her. Sophia is calmed after seeing the flip book. Richie's drug effects takes a toll on him as he suddenly bleeds. Sophia rushes to save him and succeeds. Richie also goes and beats Maggie's ex husband for mocking Sophia. Richie takes Sophia while he meets his drug seller Bill. He remembered seeing Gideon's girl dying on Bill's toilet. He immediately takes Sophia out of there. As Sophia asks, Richie explains the distanced relationship between him and Maggie. Richie takes Sophia back to Maggie's place as Sophia asks. He can't get in because the guards there kick him out due to property distraction earlier that day. He goes to Gideon and tells the truth. He then goes back home and imagines Vista again.Okay, the story tried to mix in the fairly distanced concepts of a drug addict's world and family reconciliation, the latter being the more dominant. I have to say that it is quite an attempt. Yet it sure does result in a not so tight finished product of a story. The two main concepts alternately fill the movie's focus from time to time. But the movie finds it hard to have the two concepts at a combined focus on a single event on screen.The story goes quite well enough with its way of approaching its themes alternately. Quite frankly it feels like quite a stable story of two alternating sub stories. The momentum building is nice and the conflict unveils itself neatly. At the focus of Richie's addiction, it's nice to see how he fights to get a grip on things of life, even though today may be his last day. At the family reconciliation between Richie and Sophia, it's nice to see how Richie unfolds detail by detail of him and Maggie to Sophia, changing Sophia's view to him.But it proves that the movie finds it hard to give the one final touch for its ending. The final conflict, or should I say conflicts, seem off in connection to the hallucinated and spiteful story building of the entire movie duration. The confrontation with Gideon feels quite stupid to me despite it's very nice of Richie to square things off with him. The conversation with the released Maggie feels quite right and it's nice to see that Maggie gives in a little bit to include Richie in Sophia's life. Yet it doesn't really connect to Richie 's drug problem.The acting overall is just a decent work. Shawn Christensen did well in depicting the dosed yet caring uncle who voluntarily steps out of his niece's life to help her from bad influence such as he is. His expressions are very nicely done; the glazed stare, the angry outbursts, the painful moments. Fatima Ptacek did very good in portraying the distanced yet slowly drawn back in niece. She is nicely confident in her acting as seen on the difference between the assassin-face gymnastics and the bowling alley dancing scenes.For me Before I Disappear (2014) is worth a 5 out of 10 score. It's a good job in overall but it could have been even better if only the story can give a better final conflict and ending. A recommendation is unfortunately out of the question for me.

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.

Another fascinating movie from SXSW I got to screen was Before I Disappear, one I wasn't sure I would enjoy but walked out of the room with a few tears streaming down my face, which never happens to me in cinema. Shawn Christensen's direction in this film was positively extraordinary.From the get go we see our main character Richie surrounded by poor life decisions that keep dragging him further and further down the rabbit hole; unable to crawl out of his own personal horrors and drowning in mournful regret, he decides he's going to end it. That is until he gets the phone call that changes the tone of the movie completely.A frantic phone call from his estranged sister has him picking up his niece from school and he had no idea why. He goes on an evening of half hallucinated, half sedated, adventures trying to juggle one bad situation while struggling with another. A battle between two bosses, both with whom he feels he owes loyalty; one begging for silence, the other for answers and neither an uncomplicated choice. All the while, he has an 11 year old girl, who is clearly raised to be prim and proper, completely oblivious to the underworld he's trolled, in tow witnessing his digression.Paul Wesley unquestionably stepped out of his comfort zone and brightly shined in the spotlight as the young club owner and boss in this film. Although both he and Ron Pearlman had minimal roles, it was definitely memorable as you felt the hectic panic in his drugged state and actually sympathized with his situation.This movie brings the uncomfortable truth to the surface, what it's like to battle with drug addiction, how it feels to suffer with loss and how some people cope with the choices... on the other side of the coin, how the family members tend to deal with these loved ones. I feel this movie did for drug addiction what Silver Linings Playbook did for people coping with being bipolar. It's ugly, it's messy but there are answers.... there is hope. .