I had a similar experience as reviewer "ANightToRemember" where I first saw this in theaters and thought it was great, but after repeated viewings the film had cringiness here and there.
On the upside, the writing and direction are better than in most school shooting films, I've seen. However, this film commits many of the similar crimes that 'Elephant' does in that it takes a way too artsy approach. I don't believe that school shootings make a good subject when doing an artsy independent film regardless of who's behind it. I would've preferred this had been a bigger budget studio production though many would disagree. Andrew Robinson does a good job with this even though he offers nothing new on the subject of Columbine that we didn't know already. Tons of survivor books have been released over the decade since Columbine and various film interpretations of school shootings in general have been done. This one bears the most similarities however to the real Columbine though not of the same decade.
Another thing I'm not a fan of here are the characters. The only character in the entire film I enjoyed watching was Jason. But I had a hard time getting into Sean as the main lead. For a film directed by a Columbine survivor, he definitely over-exaggerated in various areas or bordered on the unrealistic. I personally thought villainous portrayal of the media was a bit of an overkill. I also never believe that a teacher would butt into a student's love life the way that drama teacher does.
Anyway I don't mind that the film keep its POV on the survivors but it doesn't make it better as film. Different yes, but this film is easily dismissible as another standard school shooting film for the bin.
On the upside, the writing and direction are better than in most school shooting films, I've seen. However, this film commits many of the similar crimes that 'Elephant' does in that it takes a way too artsy approach. I don't believe that school shootings make a good subject when doing an artsy independent film regardless of who's behind it. I would've preferred this had been a bigger budget studio production though many would disagree. Andrew Robinson does a good job with this even though he offers nothing new on the subject of Columbine that we didn't know already. Tons of survivor books have been released over the decade since Columbine and various film interpretations of school shootings in general have been done. This one bears the most similarities however to the real Columbine though not of the same decade.
Another thing I'm not a fan of here are the characters. The only character in the entire film I enjoyed watching was Jason. But I had a hard time getting into Sean as the main lead. For a film directed by a Columbine survivor, he definitely over-exaggerated in various areas or bordered on the unrealistic. I personally thought villainous portrayal of the media was a bit of an overkill. I also never believe that a teacher would butt into a student's love life the way that drama teacher does.
Anyway I don't mind that the film keep its POV on the survivors but it doesn't make it better as film. Different yes, but this film is easily dismissible as another standard school shooting film for the bin.