The Education of Fredrick Fitzell

I'm gonna break a rule here. I usually don't review movies unless I have seen the whole thing. But after 20 minutes of watching this audiovisual piece (can't bring myself to call it a movie), I am ready to make a judgement: This piece is unwatchable. It is a series of rough cuts of the same character in different times and situations that don't connect. There seems to be a supposed mystery about a girl and a drug, but nothing to hold my interest or attention. I don't know if the rest of the movie is a masterpiece that brings it all together in an incredible feat of narrative might, but I don't think so. Because dream-like movies abound and it is clear when the director has mastered his craft enough to break the rules of storytelling, and when it is just a mess of someone pretending to know what he is doing. Like watching an abstract painting of a master, and a doodle from an art school junior. This is the latter. A pretentious mess with no regard for the basics of storytelling, coherence or entertainment. A messy bore.

I love movies like this. I see a lot of reviews claiming it was boring, or made no sense and various other slams. It is one you have to pay attention to. I often have a movie playing for background entertainment while I work on other things, but this one kept me glued to the screen. Dylan O'Brien is a heavily underrated actor, and this is another role that proves just how strong an actor he is. I think few could have pulled off this role, and he did a phenomenal job. I've always been fascinated by the idea of alternate timelines and choice drive dimensions, so this was right up my alley. Definitely a great movie for the existentialist. Please don't slam a movie because you didn't pay attention and got lost in the story. I can completely understand being confused by this one, if you don't pay attention, and this is one that is not for everyone. I plan to watch this again soon, and I hope to see more like this.

This film start with two people watching an old lady, and both of them having conversation with the doctor scene! As turnout, this film is about a series of fantasy occur in the mind of a man "Fredrick", after he took the drug called "Mercury"! Entire film full of boring conversation, and annoying overuse scene! Such as, overuse of the walking scene, overuse of the searching scene, overuse of the peeking scene, overuse of the drawing scene, overuse of the staring scene, overuse of the waking up scene, overuse of the hallucinate scene, overuse of the driving scene, overuse of the taking drug scene, overuse of the smoking scene, overuse of the calling names scene, overuse of the blackout scene, overuse of the blinking scene! Make the film unwatchable! At the end, Fredrick accompany his mother at the hospital! That's it! Wasting time to watch!

I was prepared to love this movie. I liked the cast and concept, but sadly I felt this movie failed to deliver an emotional punch. Major kudos to the cast and crew. I could tell a lot of care went into making this film and it shined through. I really thought this movie would have more to offer than it did. I remember hoping Freddie's girlfriend would tie into the plot the way she reacted to the yellow house and Freddy's drawings. I hoped she somehow knew and was trying to keep him present, but it turns out she was just concerned with his well-being. The ending really leaves more questions than answers. Why does Freddy decide to stop following Cindy? Why was the girl Freddy scarred so important? What is the invasive entity? Where is Cindy now? Is she dead or still exploring? Why was Andre so freaked out in the bathroom? What were the numbers in the bathroom stall all about? Why did Sebastian's mom tell him not to call again? Maybe I'm just dumb, but as an average audience member I felt this film had a lot of interesting ideas but no substance to back it up.

I appreciate movies that are different and unique and think outside the box...however it has to be done properly. And while I feel like I got the gist of the movie, it was still very confusing and a little messy. It's almost like The Butterfly Effect, but that's a much better, straightforward film. I think Dylan O'Brien is a great actor but I didn't love this. A little too disjointed for me..

This movie. I did not expect anything from it, went into it blind for O'Brien, and it unexpectedly ended up delivering a number of profound messages: may be just me, but this was possibly the most thought provoking film I've seen in a long long time, specifically with respect to our relationship with time/reality, our course(-correction) throughout life, and our provenantial connection with mothers as our first teachers and continual orientators (...all somehow mixed in with unique insight into drug addiction??). As another reviewer said, this is not a movie where you are meant to unravel what is real and what is not, that isn't the point. Could be wrong and it may not resonate with some people/will go over their heads, but I think it was brilliant! Beautifully/Masterfully presented and acted as well. A huge huge thanks to whoever wrote this script, and God Bless All Mothers -who even are we in life without them! _/\_