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| Writer/director/actress Alex Heller |
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| setting the scene |
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| The director on the set |
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| Alex Heller at a Northwestern symposium |
THE YEAR BETWEEN C+ USA (94 mi) 2022 d: Alex Heller
An uncompromising film inspired by true events, covering a wide range of mental health issues, this is an occasionally funny, painfully honest, yet more often wretchedly miserable look at the devastating effects of bipolar disorder, an illness rarely getting quality screen time in movies, given an autobiographical touch of authenticity from a director who faced her own mental health struggles, diagnosed with the same illness at the age of 19, Heller is an acknowledged bipolar comic, writer, film director, and actress from Chicago who graduated from Northwestern University in 2015. Thrown into a world of trying different medicines, where it can be a long arduous journey to find the right combination, there’s no one cure that works for all, yet finding the right medicine is more of a trial and error effort to see what provides the best approach for each individual, a hellish and humiliating process with debilitating side effects, and a mammoth struggle just to get through each day without alienating everyone around you. This is a film about being stuck in your own head, paralyzed by things going terribly wrong, where you’re helpless to stop the devastating effects this has not only on your life, but everyone around you who are literally consumed by your aberrant behavior. The film follows Clemence (director Alex Heller) in her sophomore year at Western Illinois State University having a breakdown, where she’s a terrifying presence, suddenly displaying endless bouts of bullying and erratic behavior, blaming everyone else for what’s spinning completely out of control until her roommate fears for her life, where her mother (J. Smith-Cameron) is forced to pick her up and drive her back home to the Chicago suburbs (exposing the strip malls of Glen Ellyn), clearing out space in their basement, as her father (Steve Buscemi) has taken over her former bedroom as an office. Her younger siblings, high school senior Carlin (Emily Robinson) and younger brother Neil (Wyatt Oleff) are none too pleased about her return, finding her a real pain in the butt, as she literally takes over everyone’s lives with her overwhelming negativity, unruly behavior, and incessant need for constant attention. The relief the family experiences when she is gone suggests Clemence may have been abrasive and insensitive even before the diagnosis, attributable to what she fears is a “bad personality,” where her true self is buried underneath layers of obnoxious unpleasantness.
Suddenly thrust into an unwelcome treatment plan she has no control over, she has to contend with her white-haired, grandmotherly psychotherapist Dr. Lismoen (Waltrudis Buck, a former nanny for Senator Jacob Javits’ children who happens to hold a Master’s Degree in creative writing at Hunter College), whose calm, rational sensibility is completely at odds with the irrational, sarcastic outbursts of Clemence, who finds it a terrifying fit, denouncing her at every turn, addressing her only as “that German woman,” where their sessions together feel like mortal combat. But the good doctor holds her own, where her acute insight into bipolar behavioral symptoms even catches Clemence by surprise, as she’s precisely describing what she’s going through, oscillating between mania and depression, but that doesn’t make it any easier, as her mood swings just feel uncontrollable, also referred to a psychiatrist, Dr. Madzen (Jon Hudson Odom), who offers no insight whatsoever and is little more than a sounding board. Very few films zero in on such a loathsome character, where there’s no real filter on what she says and does, appearing overly confrontation and brazenly narcissistic, as it’s an energy drain just being around her. The family dysfunction is at the center of the picture, as everyone feels threatened by her unexpected return, finding their lives in constant turmoil, where just getting through high school is so traumatic anyway, but her resentful brother and sister feel like she’s ruining their lives by overshadowing their everyday reality with neverending hysterical drama. Her well-meaning mother accompanies her daughter to all her therapy sessions, has her best interests at heart, and tries to be straight with her, sharing her daughter’s directness and biting sarcasm, but grows wearily impatient, as the two are continually at odds with each other, while Clemence trusts no one, least of all herself. Her mild-manner and non-judgmental father seems to be the only one who doesn’t fly off the handle, never seeing his daughter any differently, even after these bizarre episodes, taking everything in stride, where he appears to be a bit delusional about the realities of any of his kid’s lives, putting a positive spin on everything while also keeping a safe distance.
Finding it difficult to maintain any sense of equilibrium, weathering the ill-effects of different medicines, making the same bad decisions again and again, Clemence loses hope, never really feeling good about herself, growing more desperate, running into a high school boy that she completely forgot, rediscovering his existence on Facebook, Ashik (Rajeev Jacob), who, as it turns out, also lives in the basement of his parent’s home. But this interaction sends her off the rails, finding sex to be so difficult, so she takes heavy doses of Adderall and alcohol, which doesn’t exactly mix with the medicine she’s already taking, sending her spiraling off her treatment plan entirely, turning her into something of a zombie. Dr. Lismoen reminds her that she must stay vigilant about her daily regimen of medicine, as this illness never goes away, but medicine can neutralize the worst of the mood swings, allowing her to live a manageable existence. Feeling guilty about the burden she’s become for everyone else, and the exorbitant medical cost on her family, she tries to get a job to help out, which initially seems admirable but impossible, but she sticks it out and ends up working part-time at a local thrift store under the direction of the more even-keeled assistant manager Beth (Kyanna Simone). This interaction produces surprising results, as Beth is someone she actually ends up respecting, reminding Clemence that if she screws up, “nobody’s taking me in to live in their basement.” It all comes to a head when Beth invites her to a party, and all the principle characters somehow come together in an unexpected blur of humor mixed with anguish and turmoil, an exasperating social experiment that seems to freak everyone out except Clemence, who’s having the time of her life, finally interacting with an albeit oddball social mix that surprisingly offers just a glimmer of hope. What’s different about this film is the comic edge provided, taking some of the sting out of the personal horrors, yet the entire film feels like an immersion into a belligerent therapy session, where a thoroughly dislikable patient simply takes over the entire session, becoming a toxic influence, and while there are eye-opening personal revelations, it’s also wrenchingly difficult having to deal with this amount of chaos and destruction, where some may believe the illumination is not worth the cringeworthy aspect of the experience.
