Watch As You Are

As You Are is a coming-of-age drama directed by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte released in 2016. It tells the story of three teenagers, Jack (Owen Campbell), Mark (Charlie Heaton), and Sarah (Amandla Stenberg), in upstate New York, in the mid-1990s, who become friends as they navigate the complexities of adolescence and their troubled family lives. The movie opens with a police investigation into a shooting, and the narrative is built around interviews with the three teens, looking back on their memories of what led up to the incident.

Jack, a loner and a sensitive artist, has a strained relationship with his mother, Karen (Mary Stuart Masterson), and a distant, sometimes antagonistic relationship with his stepfather, Tom (Scott Cohen). Mark, meanwhile, is a charismatic and rebellious kid from a broken home, whose father, John (John Scurti), is an abusive alcoholic. Sarah is a new student who joins their school and quickly becomes close with both boys, with a tendency towards a punk-rock aesthetic and brash personality.

As their friendship deepens, the three find solace and a sense of belonging in each other, bonding over shared experiences of neglect and abuse at the hands of absent or destructive parents. They spend long hours hanging out, smoking weed and listening to Nirvana, trying to make sense of their lives and the world around them. As they navigate the confusing waters of first love, jealousy, and individualism, their worlds collide in unpredictable ways, and the darker side of their relationships is laid bare.

As You Are is a beautifully crafted movie, character-driven and atmospheric, exploring the complex and often fraught world of teenage relationships with honesty and compassion. The director, Joris-Peyrafitte, creates a palpable sense of the early 90s, evoking the era's grunge music, flannel shirts and long hair, and effortlessly capturing the quiet moments of intimacy and connection between the three central characters. The three leads deliver impressive performances, with Owen Campbell especially standing out with his portrayal of the shy and introspective Jack, whose inner turmoil and artistic sensibilities are at the heart of the story.

At its core, As You Are is a meditation on the nature of memory, truth, and storytelling, told through the framework of a police procedural. The film challenges the viewer to question the reliability of its narrators, as perceptions and recollections differ and the nature of the shooting remains shrouded in ambiguity until the very end. It suggests that the truth is rarely a single, objective entity, but rather a multifaceted construct shaped by personal experience, expectation and the vagaries of memory.

Overall, As You Are is a poignant and thoughtful film, a moving exploration of adolescence and the complex relationships that shape us in our formative years. Its powerful performances and evocative visuals make it a must-watch for fans of coming-of-age dramas, and a significant entry in the canon of films exploring the human condition.

As You Are is a 2017 drama with a runtime of 1 hour and 50 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.5 and a MetaScore of 67.