''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' is a 2015 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (sometimes Alfonso Gómez-Rejón; born November 6, 1972, in Laredo, Texas) is an American film and television director. His television program credits include ''Hunters'', '' Glee'' and ''American Horror Story''. He was nomi ...

and written by

Jesse Andrews Jesse Andrews (born September 15, 1982) is an American novelist and screenwriter. He co-wrote the screenplay for ''Luca'' and wrote both the novel and the feature-film adaptation of ''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl''. Personal life Andrews ...

, based on Andrews' 2012 debut novel of the same name. The film stars

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

RJ Cyler Ronald "RJ" Cyler II (born March 21, 1995) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' (2015), ''Power Rangers'' (2017), '' The Harder They Fall'' (2021), and ''Emergency'' (2022) as well ...

and

Olivia Cooke Olivia Kate Cooke (born 27 December 1993) is an English actress. In television, she has starred as Emma Decody in the thriller '' Bates Motel'' (2013–2017), Becky Sharp in the period drama ''Vanity Fair'' (2018), and Alicent Hightower in th ...

. The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival to a standing ovation. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised the screenplay and cast.

Plot

Seventeen-year-old Greg Gaines, who is self-described as having the face of a "little groundhog", is a senior at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Schenley High School Schenley High School, located in the North Oakland neighborhood at the edge of the Hill District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a historic building opened in 1916 that was a part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The Schenley High School building ...

who avoids close engagement with other students. He learns that fellow student and former childhood friend of his, Rachel Kushner, has been diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

and is forced by his parents to befriend her in her time of need. Despite an awkward first encounter on Rachel's staircase, with neither of them truly wanting the other's company, Greg manages to strike up a conversation about her pillow collection. She comes to find his quirky personality and honesty endearing. Greg introduces Rachel to his "coworker" Earl (who tells Rachel that Greg avoids calling people his friend out of fear they won't reciprocate), with whom he makes short films parodying famous film titles. Despite Greg's reluctance, Earl shares their collection with her, which she finds entertaining. As Rachel begins her

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

treatment and subsequently loses all of her hair, Greg begins spending less time on schoolwork and more time with and caring for her by entertaining her to lift her spirits. Though Rachel suffers through her treatment and seems to get worse and worse, Greg, who often breaks the fourth wall, assures viewers that she does not die in the end. Madison, a pretty girl at school, convinces Greg and Earl to make a film dedicated to Rachel, and Rachel persuades Greg to apply to a local college. Greg continues to ignore schoolwork, and eventually school altogether, in order to finish the film. After realizing that her chemotherapy is doing more harm than good, Rachel opts to discontinue her treatment. Greg and Rachel have a heated argument over her choice where Greg accuses Rachel of giving up on herself and in return Rachel points out his unwillingness to do anything selfless unless he's told to do so. He leaves, devastated that he can no longer help her. In a rage, Greg confronts Earl, blaming him for the events leading to the end of his friendship with Rachel. Earl in turn admonishes Greg's inability to care and sympathize for anyone but himself, before ultimately punching Greg after the latter dares him to. Later, Earl gives Greg a heartfelt testimonial for Rachel’s film before letting him know that he's finished with their friendship. Greg's admission to the college he planned to attend is later revoked due to his poor grades. Later in the year, Greg learns that Rachel is back in the hospital and is dying. His mom encourages him to visit her. Madison invites Greg to the prom, but at the last moment, he decides to go to the hospital instead. During the journey there, Greg is asked by the limo driver if he loves the girl he's going to see, a question he finds himself unable to answer. He brings his iPhone and a portable projector and places a corsage around Rachel's wrist before running the film he made for her on the front wall of her room. Rachel is moved to tears by the movie, but falls into a coma shortly after viewing it and dies about 10 hours later. Greg admits to the viewer that he lied about Rachel not dying, as he "didn't think she would." At her

shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

, Greg is comforted by Rachel's mom and they grieve together. Greg and Earl rekindle their friendship. During the funeral, Greg sneaks into Rachel's room, where he finds a card from her stating that she wrote to Greg's college and explained that he missed school for her sake. It also states her wish for Greg to take any of her possessions that he pleases. He finds several intricate carvings within her books depicting scenes of her with Greg and Earl. Greg leaves with one of the books containing a personal carving and his favorite of Rachel's pillows. Some time later, Greg writes his story of his time with Rachel and mails it to the college along with the film he made for her with a warning that "the last person who saw this immediately went into a coma and DIED."

Cast

as Greg Gaines ** Gavin Dietz as young Greg *

as Earl Jackson ** Edward DeBruce III as young Earl *

as Rachel Kushner * Nick Offerman as Victor Gaines *

Molly Shannon Molly Helen Shannon (born September 16, 1964) is an American actress and comedian who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2001. In 2017, she won the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ...

as Denise Kushner *

Jon Bernthal Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor. Beginning his career in the early 2000s, he came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where ...

as Mr. McCarthy *

Connie Britton Constance Elaine Britton ( Womack; born March 6, 1967) is an American actress. Britton made her feature film debut in the independent comedy-drama film ''The Brothers McMullen'' (1995), and the following year, she was cast as Nikki Faber on the ...

as Marla Gaines *

Chelsea T. Zhang Chelsea T. Zhang (born November 4, 1996) is an American actress. She portrayed Rose Wilson on the DC Universe / HBO Max superhero series ''Titans'' (2019) and had recurring roles on the Disney Channel comedy-drama ''Andi Mack'' (2017–2018) and ...

as Naomi *

Katherine C. Hughes Katherine C. Hughes is an American actress and singer. She has guest starred in NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, ''Law & Order: SVU'', CBS's Blue Bloods (TV series), ''Blue Bloods'', Men, Women & Children (film), ''Men, Women & Children'' ...

as Madison * Natalie Marchelletta as Anna *

Matt Bennett Matt Bennett (born November 13, 1991) is an American actor. He is known for playing the role of Robbie Shapiro in the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Victorious'' and for starring in the Will Ferrell-produced film ''The Virginity Hit''. Early life Bennett ...

as Scott Mayhew *

Bobb'e J. Thompson Bobb'e Jacques Thompson (born February 28, 1996) is an American actor, rapper and comedian. Career Thompson is known for playing Tracy Jr. on ''30 Rock''; his role as child trickster Stanley on ''That's So Raven'' and its first spin-off ''Cor ...

as Derrick *

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...

as Himself and Logan / Wolverine (voice) * Karriem Sami as Limo Driver * Marco Zappala as Theater Dork * Etta Cox as Principal * Masam Holden as Ill Phil * Kaza Marie Ayersman as Rachel's Friend * Cheryl Kline as Rabbi * Joan Augustin as Elderly Mourner * Mark Granatire as Testimonial Student #1 * Kayana White as Testimonial Student #2 * Linda Kanyarusoke as Testimonial Student #3 * Drew Palajsa as Testimonial Student #4 * Elly Silberstein as Testimonial Student #5 * Nicole Tubbs as Children's Hospital Nurse * Arcade Matt Magnone as Toothy Goth

Production

Screenwriter

Dan Fogelman Dan Fogelman (born February 19, 1976) is an American television producer and screenwriter whose screenplays include ''Cars'', ''Tangled'', and ''Crazy, Stupid, Love''. He also created the 2012 television sitcom '' The Neighbors'', the 2015 fairy ...

decided to produce the film after reading a manuscript of the 2012 novel ''

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl ''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' is a 2012 debut novel written by Jesse Andrews. The novel was released in hardcover by Amulet Books on March 1, 2012, and in paperback on May 7, 2013. Plot Greg Gaines is a senior at Benson High School i ...

''. The production company Indian Paintbrush and producers Steven M. Rales and

Jeremy Dawson Jeremy Dawson (born in Texas, but raised in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA) is best known as the keyboardist of the American new wave/indie rock band Shiny Toy Guns. Bands Jeremy was the driving force behind the act Cloud2Ground. He is also the co-f ...

then got involved. Having never read or written a script before,

adapted his own ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' best-selling novel. Andrews' screenplay appeared on the 2012

Black List Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

of Hollywood's best unproduced screenplays. Director

became interested in the project after reading a leaked copy of the script. He had worked as a production assistant and second-unit director for

Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award for ...

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

and

Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu (; American Spanish: ; credited since 2016 as Alejandro G. Iñárritu; born 15 August 1963) is a Mexican filmmaker and screenwriter. He is primarily known for making modern psychological drama films about the hum ...

, and had been looking to direct his first personal film, to express his own cinematic vision and his grief for his late father. The film was shot over a four-week period for an estimated budget of under $5 million.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began on June 13, 2014, in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

; they started filming high school scenes on June 16. Cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung shot the film digitally using

Arri Alexa The Arri Alexa (stylised as ΛLEXΛ) is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. First introduced in April 2010, the camera was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after previous efforts such as the Arrif ...

cameras with

prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

and

anamorphic lens Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorte ...

es in a widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio. A Pittsburgh native, writer

' family home in Point Breeze was used as Greg's house in the film. Rachel's house was located in

Squirrel Hill Squirrel Hill is a residential neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The city officially divides it into two neighborhoods, Squirrel Hill North and Squirrel Hill South, but it is almost universally treated a ...

, and Earl's house was in Braddock. Other locations included

(closed since 2008),

The Andy Warhol Museum The Andy Warhol Museum is located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist. The museum holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archive ...

, Copacetic Comics in

Polish Hill Polish Hill ( pl, Polskie Wzgórze) is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Primarily a residential area, it is home to Pittsburgh's Immaculate Heart of Mary church. History Large numbers of Polish immigrants settled the neighborhood after ...

, and a street corner in

West Oakland West Oakland is a neighborhood situated in the northwestern corner of Oakland, California, United States, situated west of Downtown Oakland, south of Emeryville, and north of Alameda. The neighborhood is located along the waterfront at the P ...

, which served as an ice cream shop.

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

lent its library of classic films for use in the book-and-DVD store in the film.

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

scored the film using a combination of previously unreleased recordings and a few original compositions;

Nico Muhly Nico Asher Muhly (; born August 26, 1981) is an American contemporary classical music composer and arranger who has worked and recorded with both classical and pop musicians. A prolific composer, he has composed for many notable symphony orchestras ...

composed the music for the beginning high school sequence and final credits. Filmmakers Edward Bursch and Nathan O. Marsh made 21

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

animated and live-action short films to represent Greg and Earl's classic film parodies, including the final short film made for Rachel set to Brian Eno's " The Big Ship". Differing from the novel, director Gomez-Rejon felt the final film should reflect Greg's artistic growth and express his love for Rachel in an abstract way, using color, texture, and shapes, similar to the work of

Stan Brakhage James Stanley Brakhage ( ; January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film. Over the course of five decades, Brakhage created a large ...

Release

''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' premiered on January 25, 2015 at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, to a standing ovation. The film was acquired by

Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...

for $12 million in a bidding war hours after its premiere, and won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and the Audience Award for U.S. Drama at the festival. On February 24, it was announced the film had been scheduled for a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on July 1, 2015 in the United States. On March 10, it was stated that the film would instead be released on June 12, 2015. The film had a gradual theatrical release, opening in 15 art house theaters, expanding to 68, and then to more than 350 screens. The film went

wide WIDE or Wide may refer to: *Wide (cricket) *Wide and narrow data, terms used to describe two different presentations for tabular data *WIDE Project, Widely Integrated Distributed Environment *Wide-angle Infinity Display Equipment *WIDE-LP, a radio ...

to 870 theaters during the July Fourth holiday. It was released in the UK on September 4, 2015.

Home media

The film was released on

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

on September 18, 2015, and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on October 6, 2015. The DVD and Blu-ray include an audio commentary by the director, deleted scenes with optional commentary, the film made for Rachel, Greg's trailer, and a photo gallery. The Blu-ray also includes the featurette, ''This Is Where You Learn How the Movie Was Made'', a conversation with

and Gomez-Rejon, and a montage of Greg and Earl's short films.

Reception

The film has received positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a rating of 81%, based on 212 reviews, with an average of 7.60/10. The website's consensus reads "Beautifully scripted and perfectly cast, ''Me & Earl & the Dying Girl'' is a coming-of-age movie with uncommon charm and insight." The film has a score of 74 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, given by 40 critics, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". ''

Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' gave the film a grade of A−, describing it as "a beautifully charming, captivating knock-out". Peter Debruge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the film "is destined not only to connect with young audiences in a big way, but also to endure as a touchstone for its generation". Pamela McClintock of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' later noted that the film had failed to crossover and connect with mainstream audiences, having grossed just $6.2 million in the 6 weeks after its release.

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Me And Earl And The Dying Girl (film) 2015 films 2010s high school films 2010s buddy comedy-drama films 2015 romantic comedy-drama films 2010s teen comedy-drama films 2010s teen romance films American films with live action and animation American buddy comedy-drama films American high school films American romantic comedy-drama films American teen comedy-drama films American teen romance films 2010s English-language films Films about cancer Films about death Films about filmmaking Films based on American novels Films based on young adult literature Films directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon 2015 independent films American independent films Films set in Pittsburgh Films shot in Pittsburgh Indian Paintbrush (production company) films Sundance Film Festival award winners 2010s American films