An incredibly surreal look at how various people deal with the loss of a loved one through available methods, I don't quite know what I was expecting with this film. Karen Gillan's feature directorial debut The Party's Just Beginning is an intensely dark and poignant story of a young woman struggling to accept the circumstances she has been put in. Written, directed by, and starring Gillan herself, I was pleasantly surprised at the inescapable indie tone and smooth storytelling that she has accomplished, as depressing and touchy as the film's topic may be. With some excellent performances and extremely sensory production design, I actually very much enjoyed this film as Gillan genuinely proves she is much more than a type-cast, redheaded, ass-kicker.
Liusaidh (Karen Gillan) is an obsessive drinker who goes out nearly every night in order to forget about the suicide of her best friend Alistair (Matthew Beard). Armed with her belief in meaningless sex and bottomless fries, Liusaidh struggles to get through one of the coldest times of the year in her hometown while carrying the weight and stress of her current situation. Gillan wrote, directed, and starred in this all on her own and while its premise may seem very simple or reminiscent of a college short film, it reveals itself to be much more than that. I loved Gillan's script and how she wrote this cast of characters. The interactions that they had together all carried some kind of weight when it came to Alistair's unfortunate passing. Even though this film has a limited set of characters, each one played such a pivotal role in the telling of Liusaidh's story. Her mother (Siobhan Redmond) and father (Paul Higgins) were very distant and detached from dealing with their daughter, Liusaidh's on-and-off boyfriend Dale (Lee Pace) helped her cope with her situation, and Alistair's boyfriend Ben (Jamie Quinn) was, unfortunately, one of the story's biggest antagonists. Even though this film is about the life and dealings of Gillan's character, the plot revolves around Alistair. The way that Gillan frames this narrative helps it stand out as incredibly interesting as well. The audience sees Alistair commit suicide right from the beginning of this film, but the way that Gillan utilizes flashbacks and hallucinations make the story appear linear. This created the shocking ending of how Alistair's story came to an end and despite seeing it multiple times throughout the film, the twist still managed to shock me. Gillan's writing and sorrowful direction make this experience feel like a strange fever dream in the most impactful way possible. This is a very strong directorial debut as Gillan is truly able to bring her audience into Liusaidh's distorted state of mind.
Suicide, depression, and alcoholism are never easy subjects to attempt to tackle in a film, but I believe that Gillan has done so perfectly in her complex character of Liusaidh. As this movie's main theme is dealing with the suicide of a close friend, Gillan does not take that subject lightly. I could painfully feel every emotion that Liusaidh felt, especially after everything that she and her best friend had gone through, and thankfully Gillan did not sugarcoat any of her character's emotions. Losing someone that close can be absolute hell and Gillan was unafraid to show the harsh realities of people's coping methods, even through Liusaidh's drinking and sex. The character of Liusaidh was also simultaneously full of self-deprecation, carelessness, and humor, further proving how complicated and non-typical each person can be without resorting to stereotypical dialogue. This movie, as surreal in its viewing as it is, can be very difficult to watch at times, especially in the consistent flashback scenes of Alistair's death. However, this experience was a bit numbed by the film's wildly sensory production design. The use of music and the film's audio design was intense. Perhaps it was because I watched this film on my laptop with headphones, but the way that Gillan created this atmosphere was unbelievable. The sound mixers and editors deserve most of this credit too, as they truly helped the audience get in the often blurry head of Liusaidh. My only issue with this film was its resolution and the message it was trying to convey. While the movie purely focuses on coping with death, the ending seemed a bit too ambiguous. Liusaidh did not seem to develop at all past the first half of the film and her carelessness led to a lack of passion for her character. While this was undoubtedly the point of the film, I wish that the writing would have introduced Liusaidh to some semblance of closure.
The Party's Just Beginning is a powerful directorial debut from Karen Gillan that is not your typical take on depression and alcoholism, but proves itself to be a very original story. Gillan has done fantastic on all fronts of this film and despite the conclusion being a bit too open-handed, I can't wait to see what kind of story she decides to tackle next.
My Rating: ★★★½
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