Nico Parker (The Last of Us) delivers an impressive performance as a teenager struggling with more than her fair share of family trauma in writer/director Laura Chinn’s Suncoast. The R-rated drama is a deeply personal coming-of-age story based on Chinn’s own experiences growing up with a single mother and an older brother who passed away from cancer.
There’s a pivotal scene early on in Suncoast with Doris (Parker) ticking off a list of family members who are either dead or dying. She’s not angry or frustrated, just matter-of-fact about her family history. Wise beyond her 17 years, Doris has accepted that these circumstances are beyond her control.
That’s Doris. She doesn’t rage; she accepts her situation. She’ll be her brother’s caretaker and second fiddle in her mom’s eyes until he passes away.
However, that dynamic shifts when Doris’ mother, Kristine (three-time Oscar nominee Laura Linney), makes the decision to move her dying son into hospice. Doris drops from second fiddle to barely an afterthought as Kristine dedicates herself to spending every possible moment with Max, leaving her introverted (and friendless) daughter to basically fend for herself.
Unfortunately, the timing of the move sucks. The film’s set in 2005, the same year that Terri Schiavo’s husband won his “Right to Die” legal case and was allowed to have his wife’s feeding tube removed. (She was in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years.) Kristine’s decision to move Max coincides with the controversial ruling in Schiavo’s case. As a result, Terri and Max will both spend their final days in the Suncoast care facility. Instead of the peace and quiet Kristine was hoping for, the facility is surrounded by very vocal protestors.
Kristine was barely holding on before the move, and once Max is set up in a private room she becomes laser-focused on making sure she’s by his side when he passes.
Freed of her restraints, Doris emerges from social exile at the back of the class and volunteers her house for partying. One taste of normal high school life, and she wants much, much more. Her new rebellious teen attitude sets her on a collision course with her strict – and almost comically intense – mom.
Three-time Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson plays the role of a protestor who develops a weird, although platonic, almost fatherly relationship with Doris. The film touches on the ethical questions surrounding euthanasia, with Harrelson’s character representing the anti-euthanasia argument. However, writer/director Chinn chooses to keep this issue as a minor aspect of the movie, instead focusing on the prickly relationship between Doris and her mother.
Suncoast, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, is a compelling, emotionally charged coming-of-age drama. Nico Parker is terrific in the lead role, portraying a character who deals with difficult challenges from the filmmaker’s personal history. Despite the deeply personal nature of the story, its themes of grief and acceptance are relatable to anyone, thanks in large part to Parker’s performance.
The ending is foreshadowed from the opening scene of Doris pushing her brother in a wheelchair back home from the pharmacy. Death is inevitable. It’s the journey Doris goes through and the life lessons she learns along the way that make Suncoast something special.
GRADE: B
MPAA Rating: R for language, teen drug and alcohol use, and some sexual references
Running Time: 1 hour 49 minutes
Release Date: February 2, 2024 limited release, February 9 streaming on Hulu
Studio: Searchlight Pictures
