Laura Chinn’s directorial film debut “Suncoast” is already available to watch on Hulu, and it’s certainly a great addition to the streamer’s catalog. The film stars Nico Parker and Laura Linney as a mother-daughter duo dealing with the terminal illness of their son and brother, Max.
The film premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and received positive reviews from critics. In an interview with Time, Chinn explained that she was inspired by Greta Gerwig’s “Ladybird,” as well as other films such as “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Juno” and “Napoleon Dynamite.”
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Her goal? Combining the “sad stuff” with a laugh. And the filmmaker, who is known for creating and starring in the series “Florida Girls,” nailed that balance in her writing and directing. Here’s all you need to know about this story, which is based on her real-life experiences.
Suncoast: Is it based on a true story?
In real life, when Chinn was a teenager, her brother Max was diagnosed with brain cancer. After six years of Chinn and her family taking care of him, he went into hospice care in 2005 in a Florida’s facility called Suncoast.
This is the, basically, the plot of the film. However, according to what Chinn explained to Time, not all the characters represent their real-life counterparts. For example, she said that Kristine is not her mother, as they are very different.
‘Suncoast’ (IMDb)
But she had to make things “more extreme,” that’s why she created a “Cinderella character” in Doris, in which “she’s taking care of her brother, and her mom’s like, “Clean the house!” That wasn’t my experience.”
However, she says that “there were so many times during those six years where I felt forgotten about, or guilty, or like I wasn’t doing it right—grieving right, taking care of him right. I wanted to express all of that.”
Defying genre expectations in ‘Suncoast’
However, not everything is sad in “Suncoast.” In the film, Doris makes new popular friends portrayed by Ella Anderson, Daniella Taylor, Ariel Martin, and Amarr. She also forms a relationship with mourning protestor Paul (Woody Harrelson).
While in the coming-of-age genre there’s this installed assumption that popular girls are mean, in the film, while not perfect, Doris’ friends truly care for her. According to what Chinn told Time, people were surprised by the fact but in her experience that was not the case:
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“Yeah, it’s like, the smaller the shirt the meaner the girl! We’re so trained to think teenagers are like this. But why would someone be like, “Your brother’s dying? We’re not going to sit with you.” No one was ever mean to me in that way.”
Suncoast is available to stream on Hulu.
