It’s been nearly 15 years sinceAlice Wu’s feature debutSaving Facehit select theaters. Now she’s back with the new Netflix feature,The Half Of It, and it proves the industry is lucky to have her back as a filmmaker who’s willing to make bold choices with a familiar genre format to effectively reinforce that there’s no one right way to love.
The movie starsLeah Lewisas Ellie Chu. She’s an extremely bright high school student who isn’t much of a social butterfly. In fact, Ellie’s interaction with her peers is limited to getting paid to complete their homework assignments for them. However, things change for Ellie when she gets an unusual request from a football player named Paul (Daniel Diemer). Paul doesn’t want her to write a school essay for him; he wants her to write a love letter to his crush, Aster (Alexxis Lemire). Ellie insists it’s a one-time thing, but before she knows it, she’s completely caught up in the relationship while growing quite close to Paul in the process.
There’s a lot to love aboutThe Half Of It, particularly when it comes to rising talent. The biggest revelation of the bunch is Lewis. Even though Ellie keeps to herself and struggles with an unfortunate amount of bullying, she’s still got a magnetizing confidence to her. She knows which lane she’s in and chooses to diligently stay in it, running the course that she’s envisioned for herself with no deviations. It isn’t until she’s unexpectedly exposed to other possibilities through her budding friendship with Paul that she slowly starts to open up and embrace the things that she was shutting out before. It’s a moving character transformation that hitsespecially hard thanks to the nuance in Lewis’ work and how accessible she makes Ellie over the course of the film.The Half Of Itdoesn’t come with an “aha moment” that quickly changes Ellie’s outlook on herself and those around her; it slowly chips away at the truths that Ellie thinks she must abide by and then gives her ample time to reassess them, resulting in a transformation that feels real, raw and meaningful.
Paul goes through quite a bit as well, but that character finds more of his success in how he amplifies Ellie’s growth. She’s mighty up-tight and very guilty of judging her peers based on their apparent high school stereotypes. (And aren’t we all to a degree?) No, Paul doesn’t know much about literature or immigration bills, but he does know how to express his feelings - it’s just not the same way that Ellie does. He’ll never write an eloquent love letter, but there’s just as much value to the effort that he puts into pursuing the one he loves. Watching Paul surprise Ellie is one of the great joys of the film. There is one very heavy story beat that’s a major game-changer for Paul as well, but it could have used some more time to breathe. Wu is making a very thoughtful and astute point with that particular beat and Diemer does manage to make it land with spot-on dialogue delivery when needed, but it’s a little unfortunate to see one of the most profound ideas of the movie resolved in a matter of minutes, and to miss out on seeing and feeling Paul come to a particular conclusion.
There are similar limitations with Aster as well, a character who’s bursting at the seems to break free and embrace who she really wants to be. Lemire approaches the role with great sincerity, making it abundantly clear how both Paul and Ellie could fall for her in their own unique ways. But, it’s hard not to want to spend more time in Aster’s world as well. There’s a really interesting internal struggle going on there that could have tapped into so many worthwhile themes and ideas from external pressures to socioeconomic struggles and then some, but there just isn’t enough screen time to do it all.
Yes, the third act ofThe Half Of Itdoes feel a bit rushed, but the intense desperation for more is definitely tied to the great success that Wu finds establishing these characters and building this world. The atmosphere in particular here is wildly effective. The warm color palette, the sensitivity of the three main characters and the fact that Wu knows exactly when to keep the camera on them; it all adds up to create an extremely full existence oozing with heart and charm. Even when a scene is heavily reliant on text messages, Wu knows just how to frame and pace them to make those moments exceedingly natural with the emotional weight of a traditional dialogue driven conversation.
Another quality that helpsThe Half Of Itstick the landing is the great time and care Wu puts into ensuring that every single frame of this movie has value. There are a number of in-the-moment revelations that play quite well, but one of the most rewarding qualities ofThe Half Of Itis when we get to watch Ellie see the value in something she expressly dismissed earlier on in the film.The Half Of Itisn’t a straightforward romantic comedy with an easy “will they or won’t they be together” kind of ending. It’s a character study, and also a dissection of relationships as well. We’re conditioned to believe that finding “the one” is the be all, end all, but what does that even mean? Does it have to be a romantic relationship? And does it have to be as simple as two halves making a whole? They’re big questions with a multitude of answers and Wu’s examination of just that is powerful enough to encourage one to make a bold step for the better, no matter their definition of “the one.”
