Fear of Flying for a millennial generation
Endings, Beginnings Now streaming Amazon Prime;
In certain respects, Drake Doremus’s romantic drama, Endings, Beginnings, is remarkably authentic — and that is exactly what works best and worst about the film. There are three very good performances carrying it and a lot to like in this Fear of Flying for millennials. However, it could, should work better than it does and have a broader appeal. As it stands, it’s only going to really resonate for people who have been in the particular boat.
Daphne (Shailene Woodley) has abandoned her job and long-term boyfriend and gone to live in her sister’s pool house, claiming to be at an existential crossroads. Her friend (Kyra Sedgwick) suggests being single for a while to discover who she is and what she wants, and no sooner has Daphne committed to a sober, single life than she meets two gorgeous men who both want her and who are also best friends.
Frank (Sebastian Stan) is a beautiful, slightly creepy bad boy;
Jack (Jamie Dornan), is beautiful and sensible long-term material — and speaks in his Belfast accent, which is great. Unsurprisingly Daphne’s celibate resolve fades fast and the attentions of two men, while thrilling, prove confusing. In terms of relationship politics, the film is jam-packed with interesting ideas. At first glance Daphne is just one of those people who can’t be single — her self love is lacking so she needs someone else to love her — but there is more to her than that, and the film also takes in issues around accepting responsibility, issues with your mother and a very subtle but effective #MeToo strand. Hence the Fear of Flying comparison.
The dialogue, much of it improvised, is realistic and so too is the pace. Life does just plod along without a nice arc, but these things don’t necessarily always make for great impetus in the film. There is also an issue around Daphne’s appeal: the plot hinges on it but despite Woodley’s best efforts, in the beginning Daphne is mopey and annoying. It is easy to judge Daphne’s behaviour, which is food for thought in itself, but that is a distraction from what is more interesting in the film, and the likeability factor exacerbates this.
To run with the metaphor, it fails to fly, but overall I did like it: its topics are ones that appeal to me and the performances are good.