#FLORENCE PUGH FROWN MOVIE#
#FLORENCE PUGH FROWN SKIN#

This is one of the most memorable shots because it sets a tone similar to that of a coming-of-age film. The next scene shows her riding her bike all the way to the pharmacy to try and refill her prescription. With her old supply gone, Allie immediately goes searching for more. It fully immerses the audience in the desperate chaos of the moment before leaving them reeling with a close-up shot of Allie’s tear-stained face watching the pills go down the drain.

This sequence is brilliantly shot in one long, shaky take as the camera follows their frantic forms into the bathroom while they struggle over the orange pill bottle. When every doctor refuses to refill her prescription, her mother decides to take matters into her own hands by flushing Allie’s remaining stash. Despite the visible negative effects of the drugs, Allie is too dependent on them to give them up on her own.

#FLORENCE PUGH FROWN SKIN#

This year of guiltily falling into addiction has warped her into someone unrecognizable, from her too-pale skin to her disheveled appearance. The drugs help numb Allie’s pain, but they also inflict a whole new kind of torment. The film’s portrayal of addiction is brutally honest without veering into harsh judgment. She’s become a shell of her former self, floating from day to day on a never-ending supply of the opiates she’s become addicted to in hopes of numbing the pain. Nearly a year later, she’s moved back in with her eccentric mother Diane (Molly Shannon, “Superstar”) and remains unable to come to terms with her trauma and guilt. The accident leaves Allie wounded, but Molly is killed in the crash. Allie pulls out her phone to check the map and, in that split second, a construction vehicle barrels right into them. All of that comes crashing down while she and her soon-to-be sister-in-law Molly (Nichelle Hines, “Hollywood Cycle”) are driving to a wedding dress fitting. There’s a magnetic quality about her, like she’s always been the life of the party and knows it. She’s engaged to the love of her life, Nathan (Chinaza Uche, “Nigerian Prince”), and surrounded by incredible friends.

We’re first introduced to Allison, nicknamed “Allie,” at her best.

#FLORENCE PUGH FROWN MOVIE#

Director Zach Braff (“Garden State”) depicts Allison’s (Florence Pugh, “Midsommar”) struggles with addiction, agency and redemption all through such a hopeful lens that it’s difficult not to see the world through that lens long after the movie has ended. The trauma of the characters depicted in “A Good Person” brought me to that brink, but its inspiring heart pulled me all the way back to an optimism I’ve never before experienced. I am not used to movies reviving my soul from the brink of despair. As a firm believer in the power of cinema, I’m used to walking out of movie theaters with a sense of awe.

Florence pugh frown