2:37 Review

BEWARE: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

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High school, for me, was a bright and beautiful time of life. Just on the cusp of adulthood, I was making friends and experiencing my first love. I was totally “Susie-High School,” involved in clubs, singing in the chorus, faithfully attending football games. I loved it.

Looking back, it often surprises me to remember that high school coincided with the hardest few years of my life. My parents chose to separate during my junior year and divorced halfway through my senior year. It was tumultuous and shaky. It is almost like school and my extracurricular activities were my escape. Though most of my friends knew what was going on, I didn’t talk much about how it was affecting me. Many of them complimented me on how well I was “handling things.” Little did they know I was troubled, confused, uncertain.

How well do we really know anyone around us? Especially in high school. High school students are trying to find their way. Trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be. There are always those students who are angsty and dramatic, but there are also students like me. They find solace from the problems of real life in Pep Club or Chorus or in cheering on the home team. One would never suspect them of being tortured.

In Murali K. Thalluri’s, 2:37, we see both types of students. There’s Melody (Teresa Palmer) who finds out she’s pregnant as the result of an incestuous rape. Marcus (Frank Sweet), her brother, who agonizes over gaining the approval of his father and regularly molests his sister. Luke (Sam Harris), the star athlete, covers his homosexuality in a sexually active relationship with the popular girl. Sean (Joel Mackenzie), smokes weed and is openly gay. He and Luke have a secret relationship. Sean wants to go public, Luke is fearful. Steven (Charles Baird) has medical problems that cause him to frequently lose control of his bladder and wet his pants. And finally, there’s Kelly (Clementine Mellor).

Kelly is almost like the guardian angel of the group, always hovering on the outskirts of their problems. She’s kind and concerned. All of the others talk openly and heatedly about their issues, making no secret of them. But Kelly never complains. The viewer has no clue that there is anything wrong in her life. In the end, however, it is Kelly who takes action against her unknown problems and ends her life in a bathroom stall.

Had any of the other more outspoken characters been the one to commit suicide, 2:37 would have been clichéd and formulaic. Choosing Kelly as the victim made a much stronger statement. In high school (and in life), you can’t assume someone is okay just because they don’t make the problems in their private life public.

Thuralli does a fantastic job of making Kelly utterly unnoticeable not only to the other characters, but also to the viewing audience. During the film, the storyline plays out, but it is intercut with “interviews” with each character. These interviews are shot in black and white close ups. They contain vital background information as well as insight into the character’s motivations or concerns. Melody, Marcus, Luke, Sean, and Steven all have interviews. Kelly’s interview is not revealed until the end of the movie when her body is found in the bathroom. Even her name is not known to the audience until that moment. The reveal is very powerful. In the color shots, she is on the bathroom floor, wrist slit and bleeding profusely. She cries out in agony. In black and white, she is laughing, telling a story about her nephew learning animal noises. And still, her problems remain unknown.

It is in these interview sequences that the actors give their best performances. All of the primary characters are played by first-time actors. That fact is clearer when they are working with props or interacting with each other. However, they are each utterly convincing in these stripped down, one-on-one interviews.

Not only are the actors acting for the first time, but 2:37 is the first film for the director as well. In addition to mixing black and white with color, Thuralli makes other creative choices that set 2:37 apart as a unique effort. For example, rather than cuts or dissolves, the director often uses long steadi-cam moves to transition between scenes. This technique makes the characters feel inter-connected and lends continuity to the action onscreen. It also provides a striking contrast to the straightforward cuts between the color and the black and white.

Though 2:37 sometimes reads like a checklist for teenage angst, Thuralli succeeds at offering a moving and, I believe, true portrayal of the variety of problems experienced by people of a certain age. Those people who are constantly moaning about their problems may be annoying, but perhaps that really is better than bottling it all up inside.

The mystery of why Kelly chose to commit suicide is left unsolved. Thuralli’s message, however, is clearly deciphered. Pay attention to those around you. Care about them. Check on them. And try not to let anyone slip through the cracks.