By: Chloe Rocha

*Note: This article contains spoilers and deals with mental health issues including suicide

This article is a movie review on ‘All The Bright Places’ directed by Brett Haley. This movie was originally a book by Jennifer Niven, but was turned into a movie in 2020. The movie follows the story of two individuals; one being Theodore Finch, who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

In my opinion, Justice Smith who played Finch did a really good job at representing someone who would have bipolar disorder, shown by his experienced manic episodes and depressive period.

The other individual that the movie follows is Violet Markey, played by Elle Fanning. At the beginning of the movie you see Finch on a run and he comes across Violet standing on the ledge of a bridge looking down. The first thought that came to mind was that Violet may be depressed and is thinking about taking her life.

It is later revealed that she was on that bridge because that was where her sister Eleanor passed away at the age of 18 in a car accident 9 months prior. Violet was in the car when they crashed and she only suffered minor injuries but unfortunately Eleanor lost her life.

Throughout the movie the two are partnered together for a class project where the objective is to discover the “natural wonders” of their home state Indiana. While on their adventures they begin to develop feelings for each other and Finch helps Violet find happiness again after the loss of her sister. On the other hand, Finch begins to spiral out of control and eventually takes his own life at the end of the movie by drowning in a lake that is known to have no bottom, other wise known as “the blue hole”.

I really enjoyed this movie and have yet to read the book, but I have liked this movie for a long time and have rewatched it multiple times. I do recommend this movie, but in my opinion, you can either really like it or not care for it, so there is a select few that may enjoy it just as much as I do even though it’s not the typical “happy ever after” ending that you usually see in movies. This movie takes on serious topics about mental health and in my opinion is more realistic because in life it’s not always a happy ending and this movie showed that.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to the 988 Suicide & Prevention Lifeline site for a list of additional resources