The World of Myth Magazine

WARNING: THIS REVIEW MENTIONS SUICIDE AND SELF HARM AT LENGTH

There is a plethora of films that explore the concept of suicide; it's an important topic to tackle. Some are deeper than others and more exploratory about mental afflictions that are symptomatic regarding death by suicide or suicidal ideation. For instance, The Virgin Suicides, a phenomenal film and novel, teeters on the strange romanticism and nature of deified teenaged girls. On the other end of the spectrum, there's Heathers, a dark comedy that heavily nods toward a societal conversation regarding teenage suicide (don't do it) and nihilism; I mean, it could be a genre in and of itself!

2006, though, saw the release of Wristcutters: A Love Story. It quickly became a personal favorite of mine, as it starred Tom Waits and Shannyn Sossamon and featured music from Romani punk band Gogol Bordello and a plot fit for my macabre tastes: all ingredients my 17-year-old-heart could want. My cat's namesake is Eugene, in homage to both Gogol Bordello's front man who was also partly inspiration for the film's character, Eugene. I had the poster on my wall and went to Home Depot to buy a NO SMOKING sign and scribbled "unless you want to" across its front in permanent marker and displayed it proudly in my bedroom.

If you've never seen the film or read the novella it's based on ("Kneller's Happy Campers" by Etgar Keret), the film's title may incite a bit of wariness. It, does after all, hold your hand as you stumble into the precarious territory to tell you what you're facing: a suicidal love story. But oh, contraire. While it is a love story that's centered around suicide, it far supersedes the melancholia one might anticipate after listening to Blue Oyster Cult or HIM too often.

Written for screen and directed by Goran Dukic, Wristcutters: A Love Story centers around Zia, a twenty-something kid who dies by suicide after parting ways with his girlfriend, Desiree. Zia (Patrick Fugit, who was also mentioned in last month's review for My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To) ends up in an afterlife that is not unidentical to the land of living; it is, ultimately, just slightly worse in all facets. Reserved for only those die by suicide, this world does not allot the luxuries of smiles or worldly beauty. If you've travelled through the High Desert, there is a remarkable similarity in landscape.

Zia meets Eugene (Shea Whigham; Kong: Skull Island, Waco, Joker, and holy crap a filmography that is just loaded), a Russian musician whose entire family has also offed themselves (I am not being crass in using that terminology. It is a phrase used frequently throughout the film), and for them, it's not all bad; they did, after all, wind up together after many familial disputes that had been put to bed in the afterlife.

Pining for Desiree (Leslie Bibb; Iron Man), Zia hears that she had also killed herself not long after him. Revigorated, Zia and Eugene embark on a journey to seek out his ex-girlfriend. They stumble upon Mikal, a woman who continuously claims she wound up in this place only by accident and is looking for the People in Charge, or the P.I.C. The trio then continue together in Eugene's rickety wagon with a black hole under the passenger seat, and as the story goes, they find things they hadn't known they were looking for. After fatedly coming upon Raife Kneller (Tom Waits!), they discover he is someone doing something as positive as they can in this bleak world. It's here Eugene meets and falls in love with Nanuk, a mute throat singer, and Zia discovers small miracles. These happen to be instances of seemingly myopic glories of the afterlife like floating or flying, levitating matches, or the fixing of the unfixable.

When Kneller's encampment (also jokingly referred to as Kneller's Camp) hears of a ritualistic (second) suicide set to take place by someone called the Messiah, or King, Kneller, Yan (Kneller's right-hand man), Zia, and Mikal trek some twelve hours to find him (another part of the story is that King had Kneller's dog, which is how Kneller had met up with the travelling trio initially). When they arrive at the compound, they discover a cult-like gathering. While confronting King (Will Arnett; Arrested Development, Blades of Glory), Zia spots Desiree at his side, soon learning that after his own death, Desiree had sought comfort and found it in King's teachings. After King killed himself for his cult to separate his soul from his body, Desiree followed suit. Now, in the afterlife, King was ready to attempt the feat again and have it work properly.

King ultimately plunges a dagger into his chest, and reinforcements are called in: the People in Charge. Mikal is able to talk to someone and winds up leaving with them, and Kneller abruptly disappears. Alone, Zia returns with Eugene and Nanuk, only to learn that Mikal's request was approved to return to the land of the living. She had, it turns out, died of an accidental drug overdose. Eugene and Nanuk decide to start a new chapter and travel north together but not before explaining to Zia that Kneller worked undercover for the People in Charge and leave Zia his car to do whatever it is he wants to do, which is to curiously crawl into the black hole beneath the passenger's seat. In the meantime, Kneller, adorned in a white suit and searching through the records of those in this afterlife, finds Zia's file and mumbles, in Tom Waits' fashion, about how lucky Zia is to know someone higher up. Suddenly, Zia finds himself in a hospital bed. When he turns his head, he discovers Mikal in a bed beside him. They smile for the first time, and we can expect a happily ever after.

I'm not even going to bother in going into the differences between the novella and the film (the ending did not have Zia returning to the world of the living), and we're going to focus strictly on the film.

Wristcutters: A Love Story was released in momentum with indie films that played heavily with quarter-life crises, romance, finding oneself, and, of course, the manic-pixie-dream-girl. Not to mention the perfect soundtrack.

So, let's begin with the cast: Patrick Fugit, Shea Whigham, Shannyn Sossamon, and Tom Waits are an indie film's dream come true. Honestly, tell me Tom Waits is in a movie, and I'm right there for it. There are a couple delightful cameos, too, including Nick Offerman as a cop with a clip-on tie attached to a polo shirt, and one of my favorites, Mark Boone Junior. One of the best inclusions of the film are the tiny glimpse the audience gets regarding the backstories of these small roles. These small flashbacks are seemingly pointless but add so much to the larger landscape. Even when we throw back to Eugene's death, it's short and sweet and you garner all you need from the minute he scans the audience to when he drizzles his beer over his guitar on stage. That being said, there's no role or character that's not delightful to watch.

The soundtrack is a major highlight, as well. The film opens with Dead and Lovely by Tom Waits, and frankly, I am of the mind that Tom Waits' music never fails to set a wide range of tones throughout film. Interestingly, and morbidly, enough, aside from Waits and Gogol Bordello, the soundtrack features artists and musicians who have also died by suicide, including Joy Division, Christian Death, and Del Shannon. There is also a nod to Mikal's story that features Gram Parsons, who died of an overdose. The music is cleverly and strategically placed and the usage of whimsical scores, including the memorable, jaunty, and windy tune that plays whenever a miracle occurs blends perfectly with the unique tone of Gogol Bordello's samples spread through the film. If you've never heard Through the Roof ‘n' Underground, you're sure to know it by the time you're finished. In the movie, Gogol Bordello's music is used to portray fictional Eugene's band and familiarizing yourself with the music is a fun way to explore the, again, fictionalized take of a real person. It's smart and joyful territory that doesn't feel out of place or forced. It's organic and telling who Eugene is, and at the minimum, you have new tracks to add your Spotify playlist (go ahead and give Gogol Bordello featuring Regina Spektor's Seekers & Finders a listen and tell me I'm wrong).

What I find so thoughtfully done throughout the film that's also a feat I truly admire and adore from the likes of Michael Flannigan, is the juxtaposition of tone. We are in very tumultuous territory with the subject of the film, and we are exposed to heartbreaking and heart wrenching realities faced by people who cope with suicidal ideation, depression. While the scenery is bleak and washed out and gray, the heart behind the characters is what dictates and sparks the joy that's so hard to be found in the world they're living in.

Speaking as someone who's experienced both ideation and depression and has a very personal relationship with death by suicide, the subjects aren't always easy to swallow, but what Wristcutters does right is that it doesn't walk on eggshells. There's no shyness in the subject, and yet it's never offensive or crass. It's humorous and dark without seeking to wound or target. It doesn't invite you into the abyss, but rather shows you that no, it's not where you want to be while never shaming you for parts of your mental state that other media has convinced us is shameful.

Of course, everyone will perceive the morals and the film in their own way. For me, it was a comforting movie that continues to make me weep and laugh and help to recenter my focus when things don't feel quite right. If you've never seen it and you feel mentally capable, give it a watch and bathe in the delight of its cult status.

I'm admittedly biased, so without a doubt it gets 5 stars!

Wristcutters: A Love Story is available to stream on HBO Max.