What's on Screen? : Archie's Final Project

Please be aware that there is a very specific reason that I am going to be discussing this film today. I must warn you that the films content may not be suitable for all audiences. Basically it should come with a trigger warning. I'll also be posting some spoilers about the movie, but this is more a discussion of why we watched it and what I came away with from the film. I also think that it is a film some adults with teenagers may want to watch.

Archie's Final Project
also titled "My Suicide"
1 hour 47 minutes

This film came out originally in 2011, which means it predates the netflix series "13 Reasons Why". But the film packs similar content into a much shorter span of time. Yet unlike the series, the film packs a much more realistic and raw punch. It wants you to talk about what's going on in the film.

As someone who has gotten to see more suicides in her feed than she'd like, the film spoke loudly to me. This isn't to say that what it had to say was bad, but the content was full of triggers. But it was designed that way to get people to think about the content, and to talk about it. You have a variety of stages shown, the aftermath of someone having committed suicide a year in the past. The way people react to someone that has vocalized interest in committing suicide. The surprise and shock when someone unsuspected goes through with the act of suicide. And the sadness and fear that goes through people when someone attempts to commit suicide.

A particular scene actually caused me to feel pain, and audibly let out an exclamation. There's a scene where you see a character cutting, and seeing her press the razor blade into her skin and draw blood, just caused a deep feeling of sadness to flood over me. I've known people that have cut, and it is sad to think that people find comfort in the pain. But it is a way that they can exert control over their own body, as well as punish themselves for whatever ill they think they've done. Mind you people that cut often all have different reasons, but it still hurt me to see that people are still driven to do such things.

Anyway, all in all I think it is a film that is good for inspiring discussion. I don't recommend it for young audiences, and if you want to show it to a kid, please watch it first. Because it's not a joke. It's not a joke at all.