Everything Put Together

The power and intelligence of Everything Put Together is of such quality and intensity that is impossible not to be overwhelmed by this movie. A searing parable of human frailty and isolation, the film probes the impact of an unexpected tragedy on a community homogenized in minivanned, manicured affluence. With extreme sensitivity and compassion, Marc Forster punctures the suburbs' surface of propriety to unveil the anguish of an individual adrift in the absence of compassion or support. What emerges is a film that is nothing short of soul stirring: a new emotional realism for a dawning digital age.

Like many of her other friends, Angie is young, married, and pregnant, living with an adoring husband, Russ, a perfectly coiled realization of the American Dream. But when an unexpected tragedy strikes, the couple's fair-weather friends disappear; not knowing how to respond, they recoil from the specter of discomfort, leaving Angie and Russ alone in their grief and darkest hour of need. Strained in her marriage and alienated from her peers, Angie can barely hold it together; her brave face betrays an inconsolable heartache and unfathomable loss. Only after a near-fatal collision is Angie able to return her life to some semblance of normalcy and rejoin the social circle.

With its multitextured abstractions and filtered fliudity, Everything Put Together represents urgent, emotive, and innovative filmmaking. Forster's leading lady, Radha Mitchell (High Art), is equally astonishing, permeating every digital frame with her devastating beauty and unflinching honesty.