Suncoast (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – From debut feature film writer/director Laura Chinn, a semi-auto-biographical coming of age story about a young woman dealing with her brother’s serious illness.

My Take – Taking care of a sick one is hard. There’s so much that goes with it, and only those who have personally dealt with it can truly paint the right picture. With grief at its center, this latest Hulu release aims to capture those feelings while reminding us of the coming-of-age issues we’ve all faced, through the eyes of a teenage girl is given the space to get by while dealing with the end-of-life decisions her family is facing.

Semi-autobiographical in nature, director/writer Laura Chinn based the story around her youth and her family’s experiences in the early 2000s. And while illness, protests, and the challenges of growing up, might seem a bit too-real for someone looking for a casual watch.

Thankfully, mixed with unexpected camaraderie and humor, the film, which premiered at Sundance 2024, ends up being a likable crowd-pleaser that aims to compensate for its lack of originality with endless charm.

Sure, the conflicting tones and attempts to balance grief and loss with spurts of unexpected comedy and coming-of-age journey is never perfect, but director Chinn‘s personal perspective is without a doubt skillfully crafted and unflinchingly reflected throughout. With the subplot of Terri Schiavo adding a sense of realism to the main story.

It helps that the performances of the cast carefully work to deepen the issues and bring empathy to the character’s journeys. Though emotionally heavy, it excels at being charmingly aching for the duration of 109 minutes.

Set in 2005 Florida, the story follows Doris (Nico Parker), a lonely teenager, who has been juggling caring for her terminally ill brother, Max (Cree Kawa), who due to his suffering from brain cancer has been in an unresponsive state for some time, and high school life. Her mother Kristine (Laura Linney), who is often harsher than helpful, has also been deals with similar issues.

With Max now at the end of his life, he has been admitted to the Suncoast hospice facility to make his final moments comfortable. But as Kristine loses herself in her son’s illness, Doris craving a ‘normal’ childhood decides to explore her youth, despite being forcefully torn between her two worlds.

And when Kristine decides she’s going to start sleeping in her son’s room as she can’t bear the thought of not being with the young man when he leaves this world, Doris sees it as a chance to make friends at her Christian high school, inviting some cool girls to have a just-canceled party at her house. They don’t know her name but are thrilled to take her up on the offer. The result is an unexpected opportunity for growth, solidarity, and just a touch of trouble.

Indeed, this is a lot for a teenager to deal with and that made for a very emotional story from start to finish. Yes, social breakthroughs of boyfriend discourse and gulps of alcohol present a distraction from the cloudy overhang of her brother’s impending passing, but the constant camaraderie feels lightweight. Plus, while you worry you know where this is all headed, but the trio of Brittany (Ella Anderson), Laci (Daniella Taylor) and Megan (Ariel Martin) prove to be rather solid friends to Doris.

Similarly, you wonder what’s in store for Doris when she encounters Paul Warren (Woody Harrelson), an offbeat widower who has come to town to advocate for Terri Schiavo along with other sign-wielding protesters outside Suncoast Hospice.

Rest assured, though, they merely develop a sweet if also unusual friendship, with Paul trying to impart bits of wisdom on the girl. An endearing running joke in the film sees Doris regularly taking their conversations to one depressing place or another, which Paul, who’s been through an ordeal himself, almost seems to appreciate.

The film primarily champions Doris’ causes, ones of frustration, isolation, and her budding reach to thrive as a normal teenager. We can empathize with Doris and her quest to find her own identity, and this is what distinguishes this film from others in its genre. The film portrays a melancholic adolescent attempting to make sense of her turbulent emotional life.

However, though director Chinn lays it on a little thick when it comes to the diametrically opposed ways Kristine treats her two offspring, yet considering what she is going through we still can empathize with Kristine almost all the time.

There are some very heartbreaking scenes in the film, most notably the one where Kristine is so consumed with providing for her dying son Max that she forgets she has a daughter who is well and needs her just as much as her son. Although it occasionally makes the ever-so-slight stumble, the film steadily builds to a climax likely to give the viewer a serious case of the feels.

Despite being still at the beginning of her career, Thandiwe Newton’s daughter Nico Parker skillfully tackles the emotional challenges of her complex character. She vividly embodies teen turbulence, playing Doris with a mix of uncertainty, hopefulness, and genuine kindness. Walking a fine line with Doris, the character earning our empathy much of the time, even if that behavior falls within normal teen-based parameters.

Laura Linney manages to be both appalling and sympathetic, adding dramatic layers to her intense performance as a mother, grieving her son before he passes. She shines the brightest in the film’s best-written scene, when Kristine argues with a member of law enforcement outside Suncoast. It’s an affecting moment, thanks to both Linney and director Chinn.

Woody Harrelson adds levity to the emotional tale and bringing a distinctive flavor of kindness to the film, while Daniella Taylor, Ella Anderson, Ariel Martin, Amarr, Keyla Monterroso Mejia and Matt Walsh make up for a likable supporting cast. On the whole, ‘Suncoast’ is a charming coming-of-age drama with a sweet, honest and emotional story at its core.