A mother (Sara Ruth Blake) and father (Timothy J. Cox) sit down with their daughter (Abigail Spitler) to discuss their future as a family. As they tell their daughter that separation is just around the corner, they are sure to express to her that It’s Not You–but sometimes that just isn’t enough. Can she handle the pain of seeing her parents fall out of love, or will this reality cause her to crumble?
Too many of us have seen the love that our parents once shared dwindle and disappear. Too many of us have had to deal with the pain of having to wonder if there was something that we could have done to make the situation better. Interestingly enough, I was not one of those people. I remember being woken up late at night and being told that a divorce was coming–and my reaction was simple: I looked at them and said “okay.” I wasn’t worried about the why, I wasn’t concerned with what I could have or should have done to keep their marriage alive–and that was because I saw it falling apart, I knew what was happening because I heard the fights, and I was old enough to know the result of what was happening behind closed doors. Not often enough do we see children depicted in cinema as understanding what’s going on in their parents’ lives, but It’s Not You gives the world a chance to see this. This is depicted using a montage of clips, each one adding to the understanding of why the mother and father are headed in this direction–but it’s done in a unique way.
Drowned out almost entirely by a powerful score, the montage of saddening clips from the daughters past somehow manages to become even more upsetting, more real, more of what It’s Not You needs to reach viewers. As the music takes charge of the majority of the film, seeing how Blake and Cox react to one another throughout is amazing. Their body language and facial expressions need to be perfect, because, while we can still hear the things they are saying, those things are mostly drowned out by that music. Blake and Cox are perfect. They work incredibly well across from one another, and their intensity builds throughout. They exude emotion in the best ways, and they refuse to relent as It’s Not You moves toward its conclusion.
The casting is perfect. I imagine if Cox and Blake had a daughter, it would be Spitler. She looks so much like the two of them–from her teeth to the shape of her face, she looks like she belongs to them, and that only makes It’s Not You work even better. It’s not always the biggest deal seeing a child that doesn’t look too much like their on-screen parents, especially in a lower-budget film. Viewers are typically able to suspend disbelief and just accept it for what it is. It’s Not You, whether intentional or not, employs what appears to be the best possible selection to play the daughter. Not only does she look the part, but Spitler is incredibly talented as well. She embodies the emotion that she surely would have felt throughout this process–and she brings everything to life beautifully from beginning to end.
It’s Not You is a meaningful film that far too many of us will understand–but it’s necessary. This is often a corner of the world that cinema doesn’t always reach, but it’s a place that Writer-Director Sophie Peters-Wilson journeys to, and she creates a very honest experience. With stellar acting, a powerful message, and some of the best casting that I’ve ever seen, It’s Not You checks every box and impresses like few other films are capable.
Written & Directed by Sophie Peters-Wilson.
Starring Sara Ruth Blake, Timothy J. Cox, & Abigail Spitler.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
Comments