Confessions of a Film Junkie: A Review of “Wristcutters: A Love Story”
By: Brian Cotnoir
The story of “Wristcutters: A Love Story” is one of the best independent films to have come out in a long time. With its original story, morbid imagery, and terrific casting this film is just simply phenomonal.
The story of “Wristcutters” is the following; Patrick Fugit plays Zia, a young man who recently went through a rough break up with his girlfriend, Desiree. Shortly after their break up, Zia decides that he’d rather be dead than go through life without Desiree, so he decides to slash his wrists and kill himself. Upon, taking his own life Zia learns that people who commit suicide don’t go to heaven or hell, but rather an alternate world where everything looks just like the real world except a little worst; there are no flowers, no stars at night, the color is dim, and no one has the ability to smile anymore. Zia wanders tries to make it through the rest of his eternity in this world, but the thought of his ex-girlfriend, Desiree, just can’t seem to escape his mind. One night while Zia is out a bar he meets a man named Eugene, played by Shea Whigham. Eugene is a former Russian musician who decided to kill himself while on stage with his band. Even more shocking to Zia is finding out that Eugene’s entire family (Mother, father, and younger brother) all committed suicide to and that they all lived together in this bleak new world. Zia and Eugene quickly become friends and start hanging out and drinking all night long. On another night Zia is spotted by an old friend who recently committed suicide. Despite the tragic circumstance, Zia is elated to find out that Desiree also committed suicide not long after he did. So after much needed convincing, Zia finally convinces Eugene to travel with him across the land in hopes of finding Desiree.
The story of “Wristcutters” is the following; Patrick Fugit plays Zia, a young man who recently went through a rough break up with his girlfriend, Desiree. Shortly after their break up, Zia decides that he’d rather be dead than go through life without Desiree, so he decides to slash his wrists and kill himself. Upon, taking his own life Zia learns that people who commit suicide don’t go to heaven or hell, but rather an alternate world where everything looks just like the real world except a little worst; there are no flowers, no stars at night, the color is dim, and no one has the ability to smile anymore. Zia wanders tries to make it through the rest of his eternity in this world, but the thought of his ex-girlfriend, Desiree, just can’t seem to escape his mind. One night while Zia is out a bar he meets a man named Eugene, played by Shea Whigham. Eugene is a former Russian musician who decided to kill himself while on stage with his band. Even more shocking to Zia is finding out that Eugene’s entire family (Mother, father, and younger brother) all committed suicide to and that they all lived together in this bleak new world. Zia and Eugene quickly become friends and start hanging out and drinking all night long. On another night Zia is spotted by an old friend who recently committed suicide. Despite the tragic circumstance, Zia is elated to find out that Desiree also committed suicide not long after he did. So after much needed convincing, Zia finally convinces Eugene to travel with him across the land in hopes of finding Desiree.
While traveling across the land Zia and Eugene cross paths with a young girl named Mikal, played by Shannyn Sossamon; Mikal is trying to find the “People in Charge” because she wants to escape this bleak and dreary land because she believes that she doesn’t belong there. Mikal’s reason is that she overdosed on drugs and was not trying to kill herself, so therefore she should be allowed to leave and return to her old life on Earth. While on their journey to find Desiree and the “People in Charge” the group comes across a man named “Kneller”, played by Grammy-Award winning musician Tom Waits; Kneller runs a camp in the world where people live together. Kneller’s camp quickly becomes a paradise for the three travlers; while their Zia and Mikal form a really close bond, and even Eugene finds love with a girl, named Nanuk, who is a mute and communicates through speech-song. Mikal likes Zia, but doesn’t think that he can give up his focus on Desiree, so that they can be together. Now it’s up to Zia to decide if he should continue to search for his ex-lover or stay with Mikal and the others at Kneller’s camp.
“Wristcutters” is just an awesome film. The first time I watched this I thought I was going to be watching a slasher-film, but much to my surprise I got a Dark Romantic-Comedy. This film has one of the most orignal and unique stories I have ever heard and is handsdown my favorite Independent Film of All-Time. The film is actually based off of a short story by Etgar Keret called “Kneller’s Happy Campers”. Not too many people know about this film, but trust me when I say if you havent seen “Wristcutters” yet do yourself a favor and see it; you will enjoy this film, I promise.
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