I Hate Myself And Want To Die: Review. By Alif Majeed.
A film titled I Hate Myself and Want to Die practically announces that you are about to watch an ironic movie where things will not go according to plan. It doesn’t really reinvent the formula, although it leans towards the life-affirming indie tradition of dark comedies like Little Miss Sunshine. Another indie classic that deals with death and suicide with a deceptively misleading title.
Director J. Davis stated he made it in the spirit of movies set over the course of a crazy night. Citing movies like After Hours and Dazed and Confused as possible influences. You can immediately pick up the After Hours vibe when things don’t go according to plan for Jacob (Mike Castle), who just wanted to die in peace.
The problem with the movie is that it doesn’t push the dark parts that much. For a dark comedy about a man trying to kill himself, it doesn’t break new ground. It is too sweet-natured for its own good and could have done with being meaner and darker.
Mike Castle’s portrayal of Jacob, the heartbroken man who believes he doesn’t have much to live for, heavy lifts the movie. Minor details, such as Jacob struggling to put on his seatbelt, communicate his mounting irritation without overplaying it. His problems for wanting to kill himself may appear surface-level superficial, but again, that’s the whole point. What also works is his interaction with the other characters. This includes his mom, Sue (Meredith Salenger) and aunt Christina (Leonora Pitts). His interactions with his younger cousin Hayley (Ali Gallo) were also heartening. Ali Gallo also makes sure she doesn’t play the character as an obnoxious movie teenager. It was exactly like the awkward interactions with a younger cousin you may feel affection towards, with little in common.
But as is typical of movies of the genre, the MVP is without doubt Andre Hyland, as the stoner best friend and the worst nightmare of parents. Now there are bits in the movie that might keep you amused and chuckling a couple of times, but he straight up lifts the energy of the movie. The moments you laugh out are from him. He is literally the personification of the stereotypical stoner character whose life lessons come from pop culture.
All comparisons to Dazed and Confused come from this segment of the movie, as his Russell straight up feels like a grown-up version of Rory Cochrane’s Ron Slater from the aforementioned movie. Minus the killer soundtrack and pity for that. Credit to Hyland for making him come across as a real person who rises above the stereotypes.
Characters from Luis Buñuel movies often get trapped in situations where they try to leave, but can’t. Why? Because they just can’t. Simple. I Hate Myself and Want to Die might’ve benefited from embracing that kind of absurdity. As the final movie gets stuck somewhere in the middle. Neither with the surrealistic quality of an After Hours or the Buñuel movies, nor the laugh out loud moments like one crazy night movies like Dazed and Confused or Superbad. It comes across as a sweet, innocuous movie that you wish pushed the crazy a little further.
