ANDREann Michot

Spoilers I guess for most people this movie needed a trigger warning because they need to have it spelled out for them. Being someone who personally suffers from depression and suicidal ideation, I knew from the trailers what this movie would be like. I recognized the snarky remarks and lonely befriending of the cat. That's me. I may not be a "grumpy old man" but that is me. Even knowing this I went to see the movie on a day that was absolutely rotten for me, mental health wise. I was even thinking the same deep thoughts shown in this movie. The thing about this movie is that it isn't meant to be a comedy. It isn't even meant to really be a "feel good" movie. It's meant to make you feel. It's meant to open up that dialog between you and whoever you're with to discuss these topics. This movie isn't sugar coating anything and it's not sweeping the reality of life under the rug either. Loss is real, depression is real, suicide is real, and it's about time people start acknowledging that instead of hiding behind cheap laughs. The reason Otto doesn't seem to lighten up after realizing he isn't alone is because that's not how depression works. Just because you have a purpose to keep going on doesn't mean the emotions you felt in those dark attempts vanish into thin air. It takes time to work through that mess. All any one can do is their best, especially when they're working against their own time clock. The ultimate lesson of this movie for me is: no matter the mistakes we make, the snarkyness we put out, the times we decide to give up; we are all deserving of compassion, understanding, and friendship. Every time things get bad for me and I think about the bad thoughts, life shows me that I still have work to do. I can't move on untill the work is done.