ADOLESCENCE: A Story About Loneliness, Love, and Substance Dependancy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIRECTED BY: Ashley Avis

DISTRIBUTED BY: TriCoast Entertainment 

STARRING: Mickey River, India Eisley, Romeo Miller, Tommy Flanagan, Elisabeth Rohm

GENRE: Drama, Romance

YEAR: 2019

Whenever we have a chance to check out an independent film, we jump to see what the creative minds in this community have crafted. This time we are checking out a new romantic drama film ADOLESCENCE, that is now available on the majority of streaming services. Let’s set the scene so you’re not completely lost.

ADOLESCENCE tells the story of best friends Adam (Mickey River) and Keith (Romeo Miller) as they walk their own paths to their graduation and toward their futures. Adam, the shy yet creative one of the pair, comes from a dysfunctional family that causes a severe lack in social skills with the fairer sex. On a sweet chance meeting on the beach, Keith convinces Adam to introduce himself to Alice (India Eisley) who takes him on an adventure filled with drugs, sex, and illegal activities.

While the story is filled with tropes that we have seen portrayed out on the screen before, ADOLESCENCE feels like a much more realistic and sad interpretation of the star-crossed lovers philosophy. While the deep dive into the battle with drugs isn’t as deep as, say, Requiem For A Dream, but the film paints a broad picture of how susceptible a lonely fragile teenager can be to a pretty girl. Mickey River and India Eisley create an intriguing image of the tainted couple, as Alice (India) expertly portrays an alternative lifestyle individual who will drag those around down with her to satisfy her needs.

I do want to warn you, ADOLESCENE does take too much time to pick up the pace and get its feet moving. While the set-up for Adam and Alice’s relationship is interesting, especially as each character devolves into the worst version of themselves, the first act stretches too long for its own good.

While the writers try to stress the dissolution of Adam’s family unit and his impact on his own relationship, once we reach the climax it comes across as Adam just reacting by yelling. Unfortunately, I personally would have liked to see more struggle from Adam to help his parental unit instead of taking the easy route by shutting down and only waking up for drug use.

If you want to check out the film yourself you can find it on Amazon, or almost all other streaming services.  For now, check out the trailer below:

If you have any suggestions for films/TV/Games/Music/Anime for me to review, drop me a comment!