Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
2015 · Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Original language: English
- drama
- comedy
The story
Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia.
What it’s like
Quirky, collage-heavy visuals drive this film: jump cuts, hand-drawn animation, stop-motion sequences, and deliberately amateurish parody shorts that break up the frame and mimic the teenage filmmakers' own cheap aesthetic. Underneath that restless surface, the palette is warm and suburban, with sunlit Pittsburgh streets, cluttered bedrooms, hospital corridors in cool fluorescent white, and a rough, DIY texture throughout. Sound moves fast too: indie-pop cuts, sudden silences, and comic beats timed like sketch television. The vibe is wry, bittersweet, and self-aware, equal parts goofy and heartbreaking, suited to a rainy afternoon or a late-night watch when you want to laugh and then get quietly undone. Pacing is brisk and fragmented, with the emotional register swinging between deadpan humor and raw grief. The core arc follows an awkward, guarded boy slowly learning to show up for someone else. The film contains teen profanity, sexual humor, and a drunken party scene, plus illness and a death handled with tenderness rather than gore; violence is minimal. It suits viewers who enjoy irreverent, meta coming-of-age stories with real feeling underneath the jokes.
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