Critic Reviews

Forswearing anything like a pedantic message and giving the audience plenty of reasons to be sympathetic to the viewpoints of all three characters, Ms. Chinn has created a heartbreakingly real coming-of-age story.

Although the script could certainly use pruning, Suncoast balances intellect and emotion to deliver clever, memorable lines and a climax that will leave you weeping.

With the cinematography by Bruce Francis Cole capturing the mid-2000s Florida setting and the score from Este Haim and Christopher Stracey helping to set the right mood, “Suncoast” eschews heavy-handed messaging about whether one is really and truly alive when one cannot survive on their own in favor of a quietly moving, occasionally surprising and ultimately lovely and thought-provoking work.

Suncoast is a personal and mostly quiet movie, but it has the force of a real expression, of something that somebody just needed to say.

In her director’s note, Chinn explains that while considerable liberties were taken with the details of her experience, “The emotions are real.” However dark the premise might be, that part of Suncoast shines through as bright as day.

An emotional authenticity courses through the veins of Suncoast, the filmmaking debut of Laura Chinn.

Suncoast is a strong feature debut from Chinn. It’s heartfelt and filled with warmth and messy emotions that are deeply felt.

With commendable wit and zero self-pity, Chinn sketches the daily surreality of her teenage analogue.

If Suncoast ultimately lacks major insights, it is hard to argue that it at least combats its slenderness with a poignant sense of empathy and compassion for draining emotional hardships.

Where Suncoast stumbles is when it sacrifices specificity for generic sentiment.