Triggering Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (20 October 2019)

Everyone will appreciate this film, but only a select few will relate to it entirely. As someone who has deeply suffered with social isolation and severe depression, this is the only film in existence that had me crying my eyes out to the point of a near panic attack. My emotions were so high throughout the whole movie I could hardly pay attention to what was going on. Anyone who has ever felt emptiness so deep that you feel completely hollow, wanting to just give up entirely, wondering how it's so easy for everyone else, please be warned. You should not view this movie if you have any recent depressive episodes. This film brought me back to being a teenager, so angry with the society that rejected me, frustrated with those that would never understand themselves as being an involuntary contributor. As I was watching Joaquin Phoneix hit the threshold few of us have approached, watching his psyche crack and his spirit break, the audience around me was laughing at his superficially "silly" behavior. This admittedly made my blood boil to the point that I half wanted to lash out at their clear ambivalent ignorance, similarly to the path of the Joker. I'm partially worried for less stable people's potential reaction to this stunning performance. However hope this will help the general public who have not suffered with mental health, better understand what causes people to "abruptly" become "crazy". I spent an hour crying in my car afterwards, remembering how it felt to give up and just isolate myself instead, crawling into a dark hole. I can honestly say I have never related to a performance to this extent. The character development was nothing short of a masterpiece.