‘Suncoast’: Sundance Review

Dir: Laura Chinn. US. 2024. 109 mins.

Formulas exist because they work, but mixing more than one can be a risky business as this combination of familiar coming-of-age and death-of-a-loved-one themes shows.  The premise of Laura Chinn’s semi-autobiographical comedy-drama debut is heartfelt but although she inspires strong performances all round, including from Nico Parker and Laura Linney, a lack of character development means the emotional crescendo doesn’t feel as deeply rooted as it might.

The film premiered in the US Dramatic Competition at Sundance and will have a brief US theatrical run from February 2 before heading to Disney’s global streaming platforms on February 9 as an Original film, where the cast should help it find an audience.

It’s 2005 and Florida teenager Doris (Parker) has been helping to look after her terminally ill brother Max (Cree Kawa) for a long time so that their widowed mum Kristine (Laura Linney) can work. Now he needs end-of-life care, and they are on the verge of moving him to a hospice. This causes additional friction between Doris and Kristine, who pours every ounce of energy she has into her son while having little headspace left for her daughter’s feelings.

Chinn employs the real-world backdrop of the right-to-die court case involving Terri Schiavo, whose presence, in a persistent vegetative state in Max’s hospice, has led to a circus of protest outside. It’s there that Doris meets Christian activist Paul (Woody Harrelson), who despite Harrelson’s best efforts remains both one-dimensional and problematic. That the two strike up a conversation is perfectly plausible but that they become almost immediate buddies is a harder reach and, even though Chinn has established Kristine’s focus is largely on Max, it’s difficult to believe she would show such minimal concern about this middle-aged eccentric chatting to her daughter.

When Kristine decides to sleep at the hospice, Doris is left home alone. The situation presents the shy teenager with an opportunity to be part of the school in-crowd when she spontaneously offers her house as their weekend party base. That none of her schoomates seem to even know her name is one of the film’s moments of odd over-emphasis, as is the fact that we only ever see Doris in an ethics class, where, of course, talk turns to assisted dying. Nevertheless scenes involving her new gaggle of moneyed pals (Ariel Martin, Ella Anderson, Daniella Taylor and Amarr, all impressive) are more nuanced than might be expected given the formulaic set-up, as they prove to be genuine friends when push comes to shove.

Doris’s desire to embrace her teenagehood rather than think about her brother’s plight is believable and The Last Of Us star Parker is a likeable lead - but the script is underwritten when it comes to her internal turmoil about Max. Chinn also struggles to move the action smoothly between the coming-of-age element and the world of the hospice, where Kristine is tentatively trying to work through her incipient grief after a handy chance encounter with counsellor Sue (Pam Dougherty). Paul, meanwhile, is too good to be true, continually popping up at just the right moment to offer Doris sage advice.

While the writer/director shows an aptitude for snappy back and forths, particularly between Kristine and her daughter, she is less successful at constructing the emotional scaffolding needed to fully support the sentiment the pair of them need to bring home the film’s final act. Tears may well be shed but it is the actors who are delivering the goods rather than the script.