Just Say Goodbye is a 2019 drama about a young woman facing a difficult challenge when she learns the plans of her best friend.
The first clue we get that things are not okay is when one friend says to another that he ‘can’t wait til I’m gone.’ The meaning isn’t as clear when he says it as it’ll become, but we’ve already been primed for the worst so we’re paying a little more attention than the one he’s talking to. Director Matt Walting‘s independent drama is about suicide, yet it’s also about the powerful connection between a pair of lifelong friends and as such, uses that bond in tackling a subject close to – unfortunately – many teenagers with serious issues often not seen or detected by those who can help. It’s a small, personal project that handles its subject well, despite some inconsistencies along the way.
Jesse Peterson (Max MacKenzie) lives in the shadow of his mother’s (Olivia Nossiff) suicide, as a young child having found her after she downed several bottles of medicine. What’s worse, his father Rick (William Galatis) turns to alcohol and abuse, blaming her (and then Jesse) for everything that follows, forcing his son to ‘forget’ his mother. Now as a high schooler, Jesse is a scrawny, reclusive boy with only one friend, the chipper Sarah (Katerina Eichenberger), a neighbor and classmate, who has sort of become his unsolicited protector, unknowingly fighting his battles, especially when bullies like Chase (Jesse Walters) seems to take great pleasure out of harassing the much smaller boy. Thing is, Jesse is acting a little more peculiar than usual and confesses to Sarah a terrible secret.
READ MORE: We Talk With Katerina Eichenberger About Her Role in Just Say Goodbye
Given the filmmakers limitations, Just Say Goodbye thankful doesn’t reach too far, resting its weight firmly on the relationship of Sarah and Jesse. While the story, written by Layla O’Shea, adopts a number of familiar standbys in the genre with a reckless bully, an empty parent, and a misunderstood kid who can’t see beyond today, where it goes in a different direction is what motivates the young man to make such a rash decision.
This isn’t about unreciprocated love or trampled dreams, but rather a painful truth from a past out of one’s control and the consequences of such. If anything, Just Say Goodbye handles this right, with a touching setup and a few traumatic moments that rightfully instill the spark in Jesse’s choice. More affecting though is how it affects Sarah, a girl desperate to understand Jesse’s intentions and struggling to learn how to stop him. Eichenberger is the best thing going in the film, the young actress a natural presence that helps greatly in lending the film its authenticity. She never once feels false, something that the film could easily have stumbled with, instead giving her place in Jesse’s story greater balance. Eichenberger sells it completely.
Where the movie loses traction though is with its overindulgence in bullying. Chase is a troubling character for sure but too one-dimensional to truly be significant, like a wrecking ball every time he’s on screen, never really giving his participation in all this the weight it deserves. It’s unfortunate because it distracts from the far heavier and more compelling reasons behind Jesse’s motivations.
Either way, for a small indie film, Just Say Goodbye manages to deliver some high quality moments that deserve some attention, every one of them between MacKenzie and Eichenberger, with a few that feel especially raw, which is what a film like this needs. These two are an uncommon movie couple with two earnest performances behind them.
While the film as a whole may feel weak in spots, with some jumpy edits, a lengthy run time, and a phone call that should have been made but wasn’t, there is still a lot here to hold on to. Just Say Goodbye does as it intends, making its flaws mostly forgivable. Recommended.