In 1996, eleven year old Owen meets thirteen year old Maddy, and they bond over a television show called The Pink Opaque. As the years go by and they drift apart, the bond remains. But why does the show resolute so much with them? Are they actually the characters in the show?
Direction
Stylistically beautiful in what it shows on screen, this is really where the positivity stops.
There are smart use of either negative space framing characters on the left or the right of the screen at times rather than the center, or the completely empty supermarket as Owen has always ‘felt alone/empty’
there are some quite frankly bizarre moments too, such as the way Maddy stands when she meets up with Owen in the supermarket in one scene in the second act.
This was all style, no substance.
Cast/Characters
Justice Smith plays Owen from aged 13 onward, and Jack Haven plays Maddy. Both who turned 30 the year this came out are completely unbelievable as playing teenagers, and quite frankly they were either given poor direction notes from the director, or gave wooden performances throughout the entire film.
Haven, who themselves are non-binary play the openly gay Maddy, and this is only addressed once. Smith plays at times an almost asexual Owen – and later in the film an almost effeminate character ‘within’ the television show they watch.
They are both written poorly, and unlikable. Whether this is a generational feeling I have being so much older than the characters, or due to my own identity. They also both gave off such melancholy vibes, and there was barely one smile between them both in the 100m runtime.
The one saving grace was Danielle Deadwyler who has a very small role early in the film, and she is quickly becoming the next Viola Davis with her talent.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
The Pink Opaque is a clear homage to many television shows of the 1990’s – such as Buffy the Vampire slayer etc (and even had a small cameo from one of the main cast too). I found it confusing at one point when one of the characters is watching the show in his adulthood and then saw how ‘dated and tame’ it was – but five minutes of screen time later is still believing he belonged in the show?
Set upon multiple timelines, the movie travels through multiple at the same time (Owen as a 7th grader, 9th grader, roughly 23 years old, and roughly 43 years old). While they are relatively easy to follow – the overall narrative is only hinted to, and never confirmed. And aside from one monologue from Maddy – doesn’t really hold up.
I hated the fourth wall breaks, as they start quite jarringly halfway through the film. I felt as if I were sitting in a low budge play at times. All they did was to add more exposition that the writer was obviously too lazy to include organically.
Having read up on some of the themes, it makes somewhat sense that I may not have understood the ‘undertones’ of identity and fitting in as it is an allegory for transgender-ism. However, there are far better films out there that have strong independent trans characters (see my review on Tangerine for one).
At times adult characters act and speak like adults I’ve been around don’t act and speak, and this added to the uncomfort level. I also hated the abrupt ending, and with no resolution to the narrative arc.
Overall
Despite what it was trying to do, I think this failed to get the message across. It should have been done so much better, especially if it was trying to get a positive message about transgender-ism and transitioning.
Sadly this was a fail for me, and it was all to do with poorly written characters, and poor performances.
1.5/5
Ryan's Movie Reviews 