'I Love You Forever' is worth sticking with
Not remembering what I wrote about “Alice, Darling,” Anna Kendrick’s well-acted but disappointing exploration of emotional abuse in a relationship, I look and see this: “It’s worth considering if this story would’ve been better told by depicting the red flags of an abuser like Simon and how someone might find themselves in a relationship with someone like him, beyond simply the impact of being in it.” That’s probably a big part of why “I Love You Forever,” which seems like an amusing, 20-something rom-com until it turns into an exploration of narcissism and relationship instability, worked for me. It takes something that’s difficult to convey visually and authentically, and does just that.
Law student Mackenzie (Sofia Black-D’Elia) doesn’t see anything in the same hemisphere as commitment with her hookup Jake (Raymond Cham Jr.), and Finn (Ray Nicholson) is perpetually nursing the pain of his mother abandoning him as a kid. So before you can say “trauma bonding” these two meet at a bar and fall hard, especially because Mackenzie seems to believe that constant romantic gestures are synonymous with connection, and Finn’s a top-notch love bomber.
In their debut feature, writers-directors Cazzie David (who plays Mackenzie’s friend Ally) and Elisa Kalani achieve something impressive in that you at first genuinely root for Mackenzie and Finn and then wish she’d hustle in the opposite direction. The filmmakers can’t quite sell the emotional hooks that keep Mackenzie there long after she experiences Finn’s first and second and third explosion and threat. But aided by a surprisingly funny script and good performances (including Jon Rudnitsky as Mackenzie and Ally’s friend Lucas), the movie very much taps into the roots of something exciting turning toxic without feeling salacious or like an educational special.
It’s just an engaging drama about learning about yourself and the other person as you go, which is always what happens, with results that super, super vary.
B
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