All the Bright Places (film)

Theodore Finch and Violet Markey are two teenagers who live unhappily in a small Indiana town. Violet is quietly dealing with Survivor Guilt, and Finch is a loner, called a freak by other students. They meet on the bridge where her sister died in a car crash nine months ago. Violet survived the crash, and has not been in a car since. She finds herself standing on the ledge of the bridge on what would have been her sister's nineteenth birthday. Finch climbs up next to her, talking her down from a possible suicide.

He starts a partnership with Violet for a school project for which they need to explore Indiana together. Later, at home, Finch looks up Violet on Facebook, researching her sister's car accident, reading through Violet's old writing, and chatting with her online.

Finch and Violet travel around Indiana to see sites chosen by him for the project. She refuses to travel by car, so they bike to the highest point in Indiana. To visit a miniature roller coaster too far away to bike to, Violet agrees to get in his car. She returns to writing, for the first time since her sister's death. He helps her talk about her sister, which no one else had managed to do. Violet slowly begins to heal. They fall in love.

Finch, however, continues with erratic behavior. He sometimes disappears for days at a time without contacting anyone. One day, while he and Violet are swimming at the Blue Hole, he disappears under the water. By the time he resurfaces, Violet is distraught and pushes him to tell her more about himself, threatening to leave if he doesn't comply. He reveals that he had been beaten by his father as a child, and that his mother is absent in his life.

On one occasion, Finch and Violet they stay out all night by accident, upsetting Violet's parents. At school that day, Finch loses his temper on Violet's boyfriend, Roamer, after Roamer calls him "Freak". The two boys fight in the hall, and Finch takes off in his car. Violet, who broke up the fight, ends up in the principal's office with Finch's friend, Charlie. While they talk, Finch attends a support group session in a nearby town, recommended to him by the school guidance counselor. There, he runs into Amanda, Violet’s friend, who opens up to the group about her bulimia and two suicide attempts. Once Violet leaves the school, she heads to Finch's house. Since he is still at the meeting, she talks with Finch's sister, Kate, who then leaves for work. While she is working, at a bar, Finch enters and prompts her to talk about their father. This causes her to worry about him, though he reassures her. He leaves for their house, where Violet is waiting. In his room, she begs him to open up to her. He shouts at her to leave.

Finch disappears again. Violet tells her father how she and Finch met, and expresses her concern over his latest disappearance. He suggests she check in places they had visited together. She drives to the Blue Hole, where she finds Finch's clothes and phone abandoned, and correctly infers that he has drowned. Some time later, she attends his funeral.

While healing from Finch's suicide, Violet finds the map they used for travel, and notices the last location they were supposed to visit together marked in red. It’s the Travelers’ Prayers Chapel, a resting place for travelers and a place of healing for mourners. She finds his signature in the guest book.

With Finch gone, Violet must present their school project alone. She reads aloud her writing on the lessons Finch taught her. In the last scene, Violet swims by herself in the Blue Hole.

• Elle Fanning as Violet Markey
• Justice Smith as Theodore Finch
• Alexandra Shipp as Kate Finch
• Kelli O'Hara as Sheryl Markey
• Lamar Johnson as Charlie
• Virginia Gardner as Amanda
• Felix Mallard as Roamer
• Sofia Hasmik as Brenda
• Keegan-Michael Key as Richard
• Luke Wilson as James Markey

In July 2015, it was announced that Elle Fanning would star in All the Bright Places, with author Jennifer Niven writing the adapted screenplay.[1] In July 2015, it was announced that Miguel Arteta would be directing the film.[2] In July 2018, Justice Smith joined the cast of the film, with Brett Haley replacing Arteta as director, and Liz Hannah co-writing the script with Niven. Echo Lake Entertainment and FilmNation Entertainment produced the film, with Fanning, Paula Mazur, Mitchell Kaplan, Doug Mankoff, Andrew Spaulding and Brittany Kahn serving as producers, while Hannah served as an executive producer.[3]

In October 2018, Alexandra Shipp, Keegan-Michael Key, Luke Wilson, Kelli O'Hara, Virginia Gardner, Felix Mallard, Lamar Johnson and Sofia Hasmik joined the cast of the film, with Netflix distributing.[4] Principal photography began on October 4, 2018, in Elyria, Ohio.[5][6]

The film was released on February 28, 2020.[7]

As of June 2020, All The Bright Places holds a 66% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 38 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.33/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Though it at times buckles under the emotional weight of its source material, All The Bright Place [sic] succeeds on the strength of Elle Fanning and Justice Smith's charming and tender performances."[8] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 61 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9]

Kimber Myers of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review writing: "Though it's not without humor, "All the Bright Places" takes teens' emotions seriously and will move romantics of any age - in possibly unexpected ways."[10] Courtney Howard of Variety gave the film a positive review writing: "Its pure beating heart and humanistic undertones make it somewhat of a standout."[11] Candice Frederick of The New York Times also gave the film a positive review writing: "Smith and Fanning bring thoughtful performances to this delicate tale."[12] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film 2 out of 5 stars writing: "There's messaging inserted near the start of the end credits for those who might be affected by the themes raised. But it doesn't negate what comes before it: a film that lingers briefly in the deep end but remains disappointingly shallow."[13]

• All the Bright Places at IMDb
• All the Bright Places at Rotten Tomatoes
• All the Bright Places at Metacritic