And Then I Go
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''And Then I Go'' (also known as ''Triggered'') is a 2017 American
drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
film directed by Vincent Grashaw, based on the 2004 novel ''Project X'' by
Jim Shepard Jim Shepard (born 1956) is an American novelist and short story writer, who teaches creative writing and film at Williams College. Biography Shepard was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He received a B.A. at Trinity College in 1978 and an MFA ...
. It stars
Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress widely known for her portrayals of complex women in several independent films and television shows and also known for her command of American dialects. Lynskey is the recipi ...
,
Justin Long Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), ''Accepted'' (2006), ''Idiocracy'' (20 ...
,
Arman Darbo Arman Ulysses Darbo (born 2001) is a French-American actor, known for his role as Edwin in ''And Then I Go'' and Ulysses in ''Greatland''. He is also currently with the Soundcloud Rap collective 9ensokyo as a producer. Personal life and career ...
and
Sawyer Barth Sawyer Barth (born November 7, 2001) is an American actor, known for his role as Flake in '' And Then I Go'' and Frank Cleary in the ABC sitcom '' The Kids Are Alright''. Biography and Career A native of West Long Branch, New Jersey, he recei ...
. It began a
limited theatrical 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 ...
in the United States on April 17, 2018, and was released to DVD and
streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
in the UK on March 11, 2019 under the alternative title ''Triggered''. The film was roundly praised by critics, who believed it to be a powerful exploration of
bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...
and
school violence School violence includes violence between school students as well as attacks by students on school staff. It encompasses physical violence, including student-on-student fighting, corporal punishment; psychological violence such as verbal abuse, ...
.


Plot

Edwin and his only friend, Flake, navigate high school while dealing with relentless bullying and self-isolation. While Edwin is more sensitive and quiet, Flake is impulsive and explosive emotionally. There is extreme pressure on both of them, with faculty members and their own parents making assumptions that they are the ones at fault. In truth, the boys are both being bullied and the "fights" are one-sided. Edwin's parents, his father in particular, generally dismiss every remark he makes as petty teenage angst, and only start showing concern when the vice principal of the school invites them for a meeting. During an afterschool hangout at Flake's home, he shows Edwin his father's gun collection, floats the idea to shoot up their school, and Edwin reluctantly agrees out of loyalty to his childhood friend. While developing the plan, Edwin's artistic ability is noticed by his art teacher, who later encourages him to join an art project to enter a competition. He is approached by two classmate girls who tell him they heard that he had art skills and they wanted him on their team, which he reacts to with a small smile, though Flake, by his side, mocks the girls. Edwin appears to gain self esteem incrementally in the process. However, this whole time, Flake hasn't given up on their "project," and the two are still being targeted for bullying. One afternoon there is a fight between Edwin and Flake at Flake's house which ends up with Edwin bloodied and crying at home. During the period of non-contact afterward, there is visible improvement in Edwin's mood and mental wellbeing. One evening, a man and his son are playing in a field while Edwin watches. Edwin politely asks for them to stop because the boy has Gus's beloved toy ball, but they keep walking, so in a moment of frustration, Edwin curses. The man becomes unreasonably aggressive and shoves Edwin to the ground, and they leave with Gus's ball. This affects Edwin profoundly, and he leans farther toward a mentality of seeking retribution. Flake and Edwin later make up and continue to develop their scheme. At a convenience store, they run into a younger acquaintance named Herman, who is also a target for bullying in the seventh grade for another seventh grader named Budzinski. When Flake unsuccessfully threatens Budzinski to stop, Budzinski targets Herman even more. Sporting a black eye, Herman sullenly tells Edwin, "Someone's got to do something," and voices that he wants to get a gun. This worries Edwin. Flake insists on letting Herman in on the plan. As the day of the school assembly nears, Edwin's father's birthday is approaching as well. In an effort to connect with her son, Edwin's mother plans a family trip to the lake with a sailboat they used to take for outings. When Edwin hears this will be on the day of the shooting, he is struck with inner turmoil, but Flake threatens him not to back out of the plan. The night before the assembly, Edwin quietly watches over his younger brother, Gus, who he is very fond of, and later on that night goes to the school with Flake to block off the majority of the school doors and store their weapons in their lockers. That morning, he wishes his father good luck on his lecture and receives a reminder from his mother about the lake trip. At school, Flake gives him a quick run-down of their plan again, and urges Edwin to stick to it. Edwin is to go into the bathroom while the students filter into the gym for the assembly, get the duffel with guns, and then head into the gym with Flake. Flake shoots his classmates without hesitation, sending the audience frantically running. Edwin cannot bring himself to raise his gun, however, and Flake is killed by the police while struggling to reload his rifle. The ending shows a flashback of Edwin and his family at the previously mentioned lake, with voiceover of Edwin relating a story about their having towed another boat to shore. Edwin mentions remembering clearly the joyful expression of the child passenger, while thinking in a paternal manner: "Good for you, kid. Good for you."


Main cast

*
Arman Darbo Arman Ulysses Darbo (born 2001) is a French-American actor, known for his role as Edwin in ''And Then I Go'' and Ulysses in ''Greatland''. He is also currently with the Soundcloud Rap collective 9ensokyo as a producer. Personal life and career ...
as Edwin Hanratty *
Sawyer Barth Sawyer Barth (born November 7, 2001) is an American actor, known for his role as Flake in '' And Then I Go'' and Frank Cleary in the ABC sitcom '' The Kids Are Alright''. Biography and Career A native of West Long Branch, New Jersey, he recei ...
as Roddy ("Flake") *
Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress widely known for her portrayals of complex women in several independent films and television shows and also known for her command of American dialects. Lynskey is the recipi ...
as Janice Hanratty *
Justin Long Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), ''Accepted'' (2006), ''Idiocracy'' (20 ...
as Tim Hanratty *Kannon Hicks as Gus Hanratty *
Melonie Diaz Melonie Diaz (born April 25, 1984) is an American film and television actress who has appeared in many independent films, including four shown at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. She received Independent Spirit Awards nominations for performance ...
as Ms. Meier *
Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his role in the Fox comedy series ''Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth. Hale played Gary Walsh on the HBO comedy ''Veep'' from 2012 until its ...
as Mr. Mosley *
Carrie Preston Carrie Preston (born June 21, 1967) is an American actress known for her work on the television series ''True Blood'', ''Person of Interest'', ''Crowded'', ''The Good Wife'', ''The Good Fight'', and ''Claws''. Preston received critical acclaim ...
as Ms. Arnold


Release

''And Then I Go'' made its worldwide premiere at the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival. The film was picked up for distribution by The Orchard, and was released theatrically as well as on VOD and Digital HD on April 17, 2018.


Reception

On
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
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 holds an approval rating of 92% based on 13 reviews. It has a
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 ...
score of 77. The film received almost unanimous acclaim, with Justin Lowe 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 ...
'' believing it to be "A disturbing drama of teen disaffection," further stating: "Vincent Grashaw's feature provides an essential and insightful perspective that will resonate with audiences attuned to the challenges of adolescence." ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' called the film "an uncommonly poignant treatment of adolescence …
t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
less a film about school shootings than one about the crushingly real struggles of youth, struggles that adults quickly forget or make light of, which often just exacerbates the problem. That such difficulties can lead, increasingly, to equally real tragic ends should give any parent or educator pause. We may not be able to stop school shootings once and for all, but recognizing that each one is unique, and likely the product of something far more commonplace than mental illness, might be a place to start." ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' gave the film a 'B+' rating, with Leah Greenblatt commenting, "What Grashaw does remarkably well, in the movie's harrowing final minutes, is put us entirely inside Edwin's head; not as a sociopath or a killer, just a boy in a world of pain." In his review for
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 ...
, Michael Nordine stated, "We need to talk about this disturbing coming-of-age drama," calling it "an intimate, sympathetic character study." Bob Strauss of the ''
Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''Dai ...
'' felt the film was "a deep, lived-in study of bullied middle school kids who plan to solve their problems in the worst possible way."


Awards


New Hampshire Film Festival


Rome International Film Festival, USA


References


External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, and_then_i_go *
And Then I Go
' trailer 2017 films 2017 drama films American drama films Films based on American novels Films about school violence Films shot in Kentucky 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language drama films