If you feel like the opening scenes of Continue are testing you to see if you're tough, curious and empathetic enough to keep watching a brutally honest film about a suicidal young woman, you're not alone.
There's nothing easy about the loud, bloody and disturbing onslaught of writer-director Nadine Crocker's drama, which was based on her own experiences. There's also nothing casual about the timing of the film's release: September is Suicide Prevention Month. We have Crocker to thank for using her artistic voice to promote awareness and action.
Director: Nadine Crocker
Writer: Nadine Crocker
Stars: Nadine Crocker, Shiloh Fernandez, Lio Tipton
It's not like this is a didactic PSA: Continue never strays too far from the kinetic power of the opening, of another shoe dropping. But the intensity works best as a foil to other emotions, and the film is an intricate tapestry of them.
Continue centers on Dean (Crocker), who ends up in a treatment center, against his will, after a horrendous suicide attempt. He doesn’t respond to his psychiatrist, Janet (Emily Deschanel), but another patient, Bria (Analiegh “Lio” Tipton), a wry, playful heroin aficionado, cracks his shell and they become friends. Gradually, Dean’s newfound framework for recovery expands to include the seductive Taryn (Annapurna Sriram), the lovelorn Trenton (Shiloh Fernandez) and Dean’s estranged sister, Bennett (Kat Foster).
Some of the themes here — rage, resilience, understanding, relapse, remorse, reorientation — are familiar from other films about suicide and other forms of depression, but Crocker plays with them in fresh and compelling ways. He couldn’t have found a better actress to play the title character, but as a director he also gives the supporting cast sample vignettes.
Tipton, Fernandez and Deschanel are standouts. There’s also a touch of homage to Tennessee from the Nashville-born director (whose character reveals she’s from Nashville). Foster grew up in Nashville, and Dale Dickey, the beloved veteran actor born and raised in Knoxville, has a sweet supporting role as Nurse Love.
Continue earns empathy with its characters’ interactions and discoveries, and brings the complexities of mental health to the forefront with affection. The messages show more than they tell, which is a beauty of cinema. One of the most emphatic, though, is one that bears repeating: Life is hard. There’s nothing wrong with asking others for help.
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