recommended

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Not just from losing Evan, but the loss of Scott-an Uncle he never had the pleasure of meeting. I was thinking at one point if only Scott had lived, Evan would have had someone who truly understood how he felt.Having a Special Needs child myself (Bi-Polar, Depression, ADHD etc are special needs)this film both moved me and terrified me. When my son was 12 he wanted to commit suicide, explaining to his therapist that what prevented him from doing it was knowing how much it would hurt me, and also that his late Step-Father, who died in 2005 from heart issues, had no choice but to die and it left my son with a certain reverence and respect for life in the process. At now, almost 14-he's doing fine-for now. I know from being a parent that doing fine is ALWAYS a "for now" and this documentary shows it.The filmmakers were, in my opinion no way exploiting their late son, in a way they were spreading a message about depression/Bi-Polar, as well as coping with their loss. That loss was very, very real-they even documented the funeral.Evan-from an outsiders point-of-view, was a smart, handsome and talented child who was, sadly, born with a pre-disposition to feel things 100x more than a normal human being-with that empathy came depression, moods, jaded mentality and it was simply too much for him to bear.His father, having experienced the loss of Scott, as well as the paternal Grandparents-their pain was so overwhelming, I did cry watching them dealing with Evan's suicide,memories of Scott's suicide. I hope this film brought some closer for the Perrys. I hope it is watched and maybe, perhaps will prevent another family they'll most likely never meet help their own child. God bless them for being so brave to do this documentary and I hope it brought them even a small amount of peace.

I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Though I saw it last year, I still can't get it out of my mind. It shows the hardships of dealing with a child with a mental disorder, yet shows it in such a way that you are left going "Wow, that was absolutely beautiful" instead of rolling your eyes. I rarely cry during a film, but this did it for me. Like others said, it did provide more than just the parent's and the family's points of view, because when someone takes their own life, it does affect everyone around them and not just immediate family. I liked how the director, Evan's mother, went into detail with the possible cause of his obsession with suicide (his uncle's own self-inflicted fate), the whole documentary was very real and down to earth. It did leave you with many emotions. For me, the first was grief. Grief because I felt like I had gotten to know this boy over the 92 moments I had been watching his life, his childhood. Then I felt frustration. Frustration for how this boy was getting all of this medical and mental help without getting better. Lastly, there was anger. I immediately blamed his physicians for his death. Doctors and therapists who have dealt with depression victims before should know the signs of thoughts of suicide. When he asked to be taken off the Lithium, they should have been suspicious, not just give him the o.k. But those are my personal views, and this is about the film. I can say that I doubt I'll ever be so moved by a documentary again, this piece of work will make you hug whoever else may be in the room and tell them you love them.

Having just watched "Boy Interrupted" I am left with a deep ache in my heart. What a profoundly moving story of a life which ended way too soon. My heart goes out to Evan Scott Perry's loved ones as well as to all the friends and families of those who have lost someone special.The movie was painful to watch, yet calmly compelling and well crafted. The care taken to create this professional, elegant piece is further testament to the absolute love and commitment his family had to Evan. I hope the making of this film eulogy has aided the family in their grieving process.Now I feel compelled to address some issues that arose while watching the film. The doctor who treated Evan seems a bit peculiar and I have some legitimate concerns over his treatment. Dr. Ladd Spiegel treated Evan for 10 years. When interviewed, Dr. Spiegel proclaims "I never knew Evan very well." Upon reviewing his notes, the doctor does not have many positive or sensitive things to say about Evan, referring to him as "the scariest kid I've ever seen in my life."If being "scary"was one of Evan's childhood characteristics, it pales in comparison to his attributes. Throughout the film we are treated to charming video footage of Evan. I feel I got to know him a little and came to like him a lot. He was an exceptional child and was growing into an articulate,successful young man.As Dana Perry narrates her son's life, we learn that just months before Evan's suicide he was weaned from the prescription he had been on since childhood. The doctor agrees to a trial of 4-6 weeks to wean the boy from 1200 mg of Lithium. This is an exceptionally short time period for tapering off a strong mood stabilizer. These are powerful drugs which affect the chemistry of the body and brain. Pharmaceutical companies claim these drugs cannot be addictive hence do not cause withdrawal symptoms, yet they warn to taper off very slowly under close physician supervision.Dr. Spiegel's assertion that Evan was seemingly cured of bipolar disorder upon his rapid lowering of the lithium dose contradicts everything else the doctor states about Evan's condition. This suicidal boy who was once "the scariest kid I've ever seen" suddenly "seemed fine." Then the doctor acts shocked and surprised at how quickly Evan takes his life after quitting the medication. Finally Dr. Spielgel fires his most nasty defense. He defines bipolar disorder as "our cancer" in psychiatry.My own doctor prescribed a small dose of Zoloft for mild depression for about 2 years. Last year, with my doctor's approval I decided to taper off the drug. At the time I felt stable and happy and saw no reason to continue taking it. The result: cried like a baby for two weeks and hardly made it to work. Though I have never been suicidal, I felt hopeless and empty for the next 2 months. I cannot imagine the extent of symptoms had I taken the drug in my formative years and my body and mind had literally developed while taking it.Most likely I should have seen a therapist during my transition off Zoloft. My M.D. did not even suggest it. Tragically, the doctors we trust to help our loved ones and ourselves with mental health issues are sometimes lacking. We have seen several celebrity deaths of late that might have been avoided had doctors been engaged in monitoring their clients' drug intake.I'm not a medical practitioner and don't claim to know the correct approach to treating bipolar disorder. I do know someone who lives with the condition. He manages a healthy life through psychotherapy, medication and nutrition. Not all persons afflicted with the disorder are so fortunate.However, bipolar disorder is not a cancer. That kind of thinking is fatalistic. People living with BPD need doctors who are optimistic, attentive, extremely cautious and devoted to healing. Perhaps the "cancer" in this situation was the incompetence of a doctor who viewed the disorder as a fatal disease rather than a treatable condition.There is no sense wondering how things might have played out differently for Evan Scott Perry. Brightly, his life was documented, thanks to his loving parents, and his memory will live on to remind us how precious life is.

"To be or not to be, that is the question"This is one line from literature most everyone has heard but, because it is such a commonplace line, most people have not actually thought about the meaning behind the line.It's about a guy considering suicide.While the suicide contemplation scene from Hamlet may be dramatic gold for an actor, what do you do with someone who says numerous times, in real life, that they are going to kill themselves? What do you do if that person is your five year old son?That is the particular dilemma facing the Perry family in the fascinating documentary Boy Interrupted because they had a child who began suicidal ideation at age five and continued until he was 15 when he actually killed himself by jumping out of a window in his New York apartment building.Now, I have not given away anything important here, we learn all this before the first reel change and the entire rest of the film is made up of massive amounts of home video, photographs, vacation film etc. We literally follow Evan Perry from the day he was born (his birth was videotaped) to some video of him in a restaurant only a couple of days before his suicide.It's an extraordinary record of a life. Evan's parents were filmmakers so they had the talent, the equipment and the inclination to record Evan's life even when it must have been fairly unbearable to do so.Evan's mother (also the film's director), Dana Perry actually says she began filming her son's morbid moments for no other reason than she didn't think anyone would believe her if she told them that the seemingly cheerful young Evan was obsessed by death and suicide, because that is not what you expect to hear from kindergärtners.Boy Interrupted also contains numerous post-suicide interviews with family, friends, various doctors and counselors who all knew Evan and while they are all very saddened by his untimely death, none of them seemed particularly surprised that it happened.When Evan's psychiatrist describes him as "the scariest kid I have ever met", that should make you sit up and take notice. And that is what makes Boy Interrupted so gripping, intense and ultimately so heartbreaking – people did take notice.Boy Interrupted is not a story about a boy ignored. From early on Evan's parents sent him to doctors, got him analyzed, committed him to asylums if needed; at one point, while at a Connecticut school called Wellspring, Evan actually begins to mellow out and grow up a bit.Evan is diagnosed a Bipolar II (Depressive) with suicidal ideation, but starting with Prozac, moving on to Depakote (I take that myself) and finally onto lithium, Evan's parents seemed willing to do everything medically or therapeutically indicated to help their son. I don't even want to contemplate what their medical bills were like.But the psychiatric treatment of Evan was not a case of too little, too late, in fact, there is nobody in the film who ever says they wished that they had done anything differently. They all did everything they could do, did it properly and it still didn't stop Evan from killing himself.It's important to remember, doctors are not miracle workers. Evan's psychiatrist makes the analogy that Bipolar Depression is the psychiatric equivalent of various cancers; you can treat it for a while and some people will go into remission, some will not, but ultimately you have to stay on top of it at all times or it will kill you.Unfortunately, Evan Perry couldn't see that and appeared to just get tired of dealing with his disease. So, on one ordinary night in October 2005, he jumped out the window of his bedroom falling to his death into the trash filled alley below. An ignominious end to such a handsome, intelligent and talented youth.Despite the very sad theme, I didn't find myself moved to tears all that much during the film. This is because the director Dana Perry presents the story in a very matter of fact way. I don't envy her task of having had to sort through all the accumulated footage and then shape this recorded video into some kind of narrative.Having made films myself, I know you have to be brutal in the editing room and cut out everything that doesn't contribute to the points you are tying to make. That can be difficult for any director, but when the subject matter is your own son? That is not a job I would wish on my worst enemy.Tell a lie, I did cry at one point and that was when they interviewed some of Evan's schoolmates who are all now young men in their late teens. Dropping all teenage swagger and pretense, they speak more openly and honestly about their lost friend than most teenagers would ever do in private, let alone admit on camera. Seeing the real hurt they feel when Evan said in his suicide note that he had "no friends" was heartbreaking.Boy Interrupted is a heart felt and honest account of one family going through one of the hardest things any parent should ever have to go through and they have chosen to make their story public. Despite the fact their son did kill himself in spite of all the support he had, I did not get a sense of futility from watching Boy Interrupted.What I did get was that you should take every threat of suicide seriously, especially if it comes from a teen.Finally, it was one of Evan's final wishes to be totally forgotten, well Evan; this just proves you can't always get what you want, either in life or death. Too bad you're not still around to appreciate that grand joke on us all.