Review | Apple TV+ movie review: The Sky Is Everywhere – Grace Kaufman plays grief-stricken teenager in idealistic tale of love and loss
- Grace Kaufman shines as the introverted teenager trying to deal with loss of her outgoing older sister and fending for herself at school
- She becomes romantically involved with two boys at the same time, in a film that is elevated by its dreamlike, theatrical direction
3.5/5 stars
At a time when young people are being triggered by the faintest of slights and oh-so-eager to cancel and condemn anyone for the vaguest of social indiscretions, The Sky Is Everywhere boldly presents a flawed young heroine without judgment.
Lennie (Grace Kaufman) stumbles through a series of terrible decisions, propelled by a selfish, desperate desire to feel anything positive that might momentarily silence the crippling loss that has consumed her world.
Kaufman gives an entrancing performance as the intelligent, introverted teen, who has grown up in an unconventional home in the shadow of her older, prettier, more outgoing sister, Bailey (Havana Rose Liu). When her sibling is suddenly and tragically ripped away from her, Lennie is forced to fend for herself in the treacherous wilds of suburban high school life, and understandably makes a series of woefully ill-judged decisions.
Intoxicated by music, poetry, and the romantic ideals of Emily Brontë’s tortured lovers Heathcliff and Cathy, Lennie recklessly becomes romantically entangled with two young men simultaneously: new classmate Joe (Jacques Colimon), a vivacious and charismatic musician, and Jay (Pico Alexander), the brooding, sullen and equally grief-stricken boyfriend of the recently deceased Bailey.
Lennie’s secluded home, where she lives with her grandmother (Cherry Jones) and lackadaisical uncle (Jason Segel), is one step removed from a fairy-tale gingerbread house, surrounded by an enchanted forest of towering redwood trees. This magical woodland setting provides the perfect retreat where she can escape life’s obligations – specifically an upcoming music audition at The Juilliard School – and nest in the piles of Bailey’s still scattered clothes and clutter.
Like so many such tales from Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, Lennie’s misadventures begin as she strays from this idyllic dwelling into uncharted and forbidden romantic territory.
Adapted for the screen by Jandy Nelson from her own 2010 novel, this unashamedly naive and idealistic tale of love and loss is elevated beautifully by Josephine Decker’s dreamlike and overtly theatrical direction. Filling the screen with tactile multicoloured collages and animated bric-a-brac, Decker vividly brings to life Lennie’s reluctance to accept the reality of her situation.
The dappled light that seeps into her lens helps spirit us further away from the harsh realities of death, and the necessity to accept it and move on. Following on from films like Madeline’s Madeline (2018) and Shirley (2020), The Sky Is Everywhere furthers Decker’s assured exploration into the internal struggles of marginalised heroines, searching for their place in the modern world.
The Sky Is Everywhere will start streaming on Apple TV+ on February 11.
