You may know All the Bright Places as a book you’ve seen while strolling through Target, but now director Brett Haley made the book into a vision. All the Bright Places was released on Netflix on Feb. 28, 2020. Readers of the book written by Jennifer Niven may have noticed the difference in dialogue of the two main characters telling the story, but director Brett Haley finds a balance in keeping the movie true to the book. The movie covers familiar issues that teens may struggle with such as bullying, grief and mental illness. 

   The movie surpassed my expectations so much. This movie has you going through a rollercoaster of emotion. The movie plot starts off when Theodore Finch (Justice Smith) and Violet Markley (Elle Fanning) meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school. We soon find out later in the movie that where they first met is where Violet’s sister died from a car accident. Theodore Finch becomes fascinated by Violet ever since and does stunts to attempt to get her attention. They eventually pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state (Indiana), both Theodore and Violet make the most of their project. Violet makes Theodore feel like less of a freak like his classmates make him out to be and Theodore makes Violet forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink. At the end of the movie, the audience expects a happy ending but are sadly disappointed. We don’t get the happy ending we were hoping for. 

   Overall, Brett Haley illustrates a movie that will leave others talking hours after it’s over. Brett Haley had to be overly cautious produicing a movie about depression and suicide after the slam 13 Reasons Why got. They had to make sure the message of the movie didn’t have the capacity to be triggering. This movie has the original characters that somehow are both graceful and moving.