In 2011, a Reddit user came to the site asking for advice on how to deal with his best friend’s passing. In a response that quickly went viral, a user by the name of GSnow wrote, “As for grief, you’ll find it comes in waves.”
This prioritization of assertion over emotions comes with a cost when, after Tyler’s shoulder is severely injured early in the wrestling season, he bottles up his pain and continues to push himself until he is physically and emotionally broken beyond repair—taking his father’s painkillers instead of getting surgery and partying with his friends without acknowledging his drug use and injury.
Shults is less concerned with investigating the role race can have and instead hones in on the proposed universality of the film’s larger thesis—the importance of letting oneself emotionally heal in the aftermath of trauma.
Directed by Trey Edward Shults. R. 136 min. Now playing at Century Centre Cinema.
