All the Bright Places

All the Bright Places is a film that follows a boy and a girl who struggle with different mental illnesses and social issues. The film looks at the many different and important social issues in today’s world. It addresses topics like suicide, mental illness, dealing with loss and trauma, and the affects of domestic violence. It’s an extremely dark story but it really is beautiful. This was a film I didn’t really have high expectations for before watching, but I’m glad I did take the time to watch it. I think it has a strong and important message to share, especially for adolescents.




The film reminds me a lot of Fault in Our Stars. Both the stories of two teenagers in bad places in life that end up meeting each other, making their lives just a tiny bit better for a little bit of time. Before one of them unfortunately dies. The idea of their relationship seems improbable like it shouldn’t match. It’s like their struggles define them and they are both facing their own separate obstacles. Then, they find each other and they help the other deal with it and feel better. In this case Finch helps Violet move on from the loss of her sister who died in a car crash. Violet is so traumatized over her death so much so, that she won’t even get into a car let alone drive. Finch helps her to get back into a car and by the end she is driving on her own. She also wouldn’t go into her sister’s old bedroom since it reminded Violet of her. It is until she learned to properly deal with her loss that she can even enter the room, because of Finch.




The story is very creative and inspiring. It makes you think about how people treat others. The idea is that people might look fine on the outside, but you may never know how people are feeling on the inside. Elle Fanning and Justice Smith do a tremendous job of bringing such depth to these interesting characters. In the end it's a very heartwarming story that at the same time is very educational when looking at These difficult issues.




I really like how they use the places they go to as a symbol for the bright times they spend together. Given the title 'All the Bright Places' it’s not just the places they go to but how they find comfort and happiness with each other. The idea being that even in the most unlikely and darkest of places they still manage to find the light.




The movie is your average teen drama, but I feel like this one stands out as a more unique story in comparison. I think it teaches you about looking for the bright side in everything. It’s an eye opening film that makes you think about issues within society. Personally, I enjoy films that leave you thinking. Films where you question your life and the way you perceive the world around you. To me, that’s exactly what this film does. To conclude, I think you should go watch this movie and you can find it on Netflix.