Before I Disappear (2014)

I stumbled on, "Before I Disappear," one late night while surfing through the seemingly endless titles offered by Netflix. The summary I skimmed piqued my interest and I am still in awe of how this comparatively low budget movie holds up. After multiple views, I cannot overstate how much I enjoy this film.

Really, it comes down to the relationship between the main character and his niece. Believable character and relationship development is one of the hardest aspects of a movie to do correctly. This is an excellent example of how to do the aforementioned with ease and grace.

The icing on the cake is the inclusion of a killer soundtrack including one of my favorite songs of all time: "Elephant," by Tame Impala.

My absolute favorite movie I have ever found on Netflix, and now that I have started talking about it, I have the urge to go watch it again.

Fmovies: It's becoming increasingly harder and harder these days to find films in the theater that stand out and really make a memorable impact. This gem of a feature, expanded from an Oscar- winning short (Curfew), makes that rare leap from one form to another without losing its magic. Although I knew the basic story since I had seen the short, I was pleasantly surprised by the whole of this film - compelling characters (not just the amazing leads (Christensen, Ptacek and Rossum are perfectly cast), but even supporting ones), unexpectedly funny, the MUSIC!!, the tone/color/cinematography, and of course, the story itself. All of these various factors melded together into that rare magical alchemy that produces the perfect film. I would love to delve into more detail here, but don't want to spoil anything. Christensen is obviously one to watch for. I am in awe that he wrote, directed and starred in this project, and am already looking forward to his future work. Much respect.

This movie was a gem. I just saw it today, and it was very powerful. Sean Christiansen(sp?) was phenomenal, as was pretty much everyone else including a very invested performance by Paul Wesley (Vampire Diaries) After watching I checked out the background to find out that Sean, the lead was also the writer and director.. what a feat! I was pretty damn impressed by this unknown actor's performance, let alone the direction, and couldn't't help but liken his acting chops to a young Ed Norton (who I also think is great!) I really hope people see this movie... The critics have it underrated, as seen by the user reviews. It was honest in writing, acting, production, etc... a cohesive, unique and moving film... at least for me!

Before I Disappear fmovies. I stumbled across it on Netflix, not expecting much, and was wildly surprised. It's beautiful and very well written and executed. A gorgeously poignant mood permeates the piece throughout, creating a near perfect setting. What could be a timeless story has just the right amount of contemporary sheen and grime and it delivers charm, heart, tears and pain all in enveloping beauty. Well directed, well shot and acted; just lovely really. If you can relate to equal amounts of hopelessness, depression and the blissful joy of life, you'll love this. What a gem by this new filmmaker. No gunfights, no car chases and no explosions, true. It was all done with an engaging story, cast and setting. Nicely sprinkled doses of subtle dark humor are also used just when they're needed. I love this film.

I watched Before I Disappear when it screened at the Hollywood Film Festival this past weekend and also fell in love with the short film version, Curfew, when I saw it after it won the Oscar for best live action short film.

The feature film is an outstanding debut for writer/director/star/producer, Shawn Christensen, the man with many hats. This independent film has such a beautiful balance of dark themes such as suicide, drug addiction, and depression but couples it with some very dry and dark humor, an incredibly emotional core, and a hopeful message of life and love. The strong character-driven story is very original and has such great characters to invest in, especially the core relationship between the main character, Richie, and her niece, Sophia, played by the extremely talented, Fatima Ptacek. Christensen's strong visual and storytelling style flows seamlessly throughout the movie, showing his brilliantly creative voice. For one, the visuals and the cinematography are absolutely stunning from each scene to the next, with vibrant colors, smooth camera composition and movement, and unique lighting choices all throughout the story. Also, there's quite a bit of surrealism in this feature, which might have took me back at first, but realized how creative and beautiful the storytelling techniques progressed the character's motivations through them. And finally, with Christensen's background as a musician, music plays a vital role in the film, weaving the drive of each character, as really great music drives the story just as powerfully as the visuals.

I honestly loved this film and can't wait to watch it again, hopefully own it on DVD, too! Shawn Christensen definitely has become one of my favorite directors as well as one of the strongest voices as an up and coming artist in film, who already has got his hands on an Oscar as he shows off his incredibly well made first feature length film. Before I Disappear is a beautiful piece of filmmaking that grabs the audience on an emotional level, isn't afraid to be bold, and can really get you thinking and soon enough appreciate the great value of our very lives.

Shawn Christensen's Oscar Winning Curfew was a wonderful piece of filmmaking, and I was worried that the feature version "Before I Disappear" would be just more of the same. I was pleasantly surprised and this expanded version took wonderful to extraordinary.

One of Shawn's many accomplishments in this film was his deft transition of the Sophia character from precocious little girl to self-realized adolescent, who has it together a hell of a lot more than her uncle.

It took me a little time to warm up to Emmy Rossum's character -- as in how could she have a child that old -- but a few lines to clear that up -- and boom, all taken care of. Emmy's vulnerability and willingness to go to a very raw place near the end of the film was beautiful to watch.

Shawn's expanding the characters I loved in the short and adding new characters, played by Paul Wesley and Ron Perlman was terrific. Who knew that Wesley could bring such depth to a character that could have come off as horribly one-note?

The cinematography was brilliant. The choice of color was truly inspired.

This is definitely a virtuoso piece of indie filmmaking, and deserving of every award it has picked up on the film festival circuit. My only regret is that this film should be opening in a hell of a lot more theaters this awards season.

If you love indie filmmaking, you need to see this film as soon as possible,