Suncoast is about a teen girl and her mom dealing with their dying brother/son in Florida in the early 2000s. The daughter is over dealing with her vegetative brother and her mom is running on emotional empty dealing with both of them.

The film takes place during the Terri Schiavo case which was an sad and ugly scenario where a woman in a coma was fought over by her husband and her parents. But, really, it turned into a culture war front with battle lines and news vultures circling the story. It felt crass to make that tragedy the background for this film. It would have worked without it and I wouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable about possible exploitation… and it wouldn’t have been awkwardly preachy.

Despite that skepticism, the film worked for me. I didn’t think it would and I really expected to carry my “grr. argh.” cynicism through to the end. But what turned the corner were great performances from Laura Linney as the mom and Nico Parker as the daughter. They are terrific.

Linney tap dances between belligerent, manipulative, and devastated in ways that didn’t make me hate her. Even as she drove her daughter – our POV character – crazy. It’s such a human mess of a performance acted in such a human way that it overwhelmed any ugliness in her character.

Nico Parker is great as well. Underneath her waterfall hair is a natural talent with emotional range to spare. I last saw her as Sarah in HBO’s The Last of Us tv show which didn’t leave much room for smiles. She has a lovely smile and I’m glad this film gave her the room to show it… and the trauma and the tears.

I was also randomly impressed by her high school friends. I expected a mean girls subplot from them. But the film surprised me by making them good people and solid friends… if a little vacuous.

I found this movie deeply moving and believably human. I like that it wasn’t wall-to-wall tragedy… that it gave us sharp edges and selfishness as well as driver’s training and the prom. We get away from the trauma while never leaving it behind… and when we do get the heartaches, it works.

Score: 86