Manic marks the end of my little summer season of films starring either/both Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Zooey Deschanel that started back in March with (500) Days of Summer (LoveFilm makes it very simple and cheap to rent your way through an actor’s back catalogue).
Manic is set in the juvenile wing of the Northwood Mental Institution. The cast is made up mostly of unknowns, although JGL would have already done 3rd Rock by this time, and it was largely shot hand-held on a digital camcorder which is very effective as the tension builds between various characters and we get right in their faces.
What really makes the film stand out is its focus on the ebbs and flows of the relationships between these broken and hurting people and there are some really beautiful performances as these characters oscillate between vulnerability and their various defence mechanisms.
Deschanel’s quiet, troubled Tracy, Sara Rivas’s mouthy but insecure goth (also called Sara) and Michael Bacall’s nihilist Chad all make this a poetic ensemble piece that reminds us of our fragility and our need to find hope within ourselves and in each other.
Definitely worth the £2.99 it is on Amazon at the moment.
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