I'm Totally Fine is a charming and surprisingly insightful, sci-fi comedy.
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Science fiction is a genre with limitless possibilities that often finds itself focusing on specific kinds of stories or themes handled in specific ways. For instance, if your sci-fi movie is going to tackle killer technology it will probably be an action movie that emphasizes the importance of human connection (see the Terminator franchise). If you're tackling a complex human emotion like grief, there's a good chance that it'll be a sweeping epic with a single word title like Contact or Arrival. Unless you're today's movie, I'm Totally Fine, a sci-fi comedy about coping with the loss of a loved one that is...an offbeat and charming indie movie.
The Setup
Jillian Bell plays Vanessa, a woman who is about to go on a trip after the tragic passing of her best friend and business partner Jennifer (Natalie Morales). A tragedy that makes it all the more confounding when Jennifer appears in her kitchen and claims to be an alien. Now this unlikely duo of a grieving woman and an embodiment of her friend will try to help each other cope and learn before the alien's time on earth ends.
I feel like this movie was specifically crafted to scratch an inch in my brain. Partially because the cast consists of a bunch of TV comedy people I love including Bell, Morales, fellow Workaholics alums Blake Anderson and Kyle Newacheck and What We Do in the Shadows standout Harvey Guillen in a gimmick role. And partially because this is a very clever movie that isn't trying to do too much with its central concept.
The film smartly makes the alien something like a glorified outside observer that isn't malicious but does have a time clock. This means, in essence, Vanessa can get one last weekend with her bestie at her lowest point and try to get one last hurrah versus the unceremonious departure she did get. And now she has a being, with her best friend's face, who can push her out of her comfort zone or encourage her to make connections.
And if that sounds heavy, yeah it can be, but the movie undercuts the heavy subject matter with strong bits of physical comedy, since our alien friends needs oil to stay alive and maintain Jennifer's shape, and strong ridiculous girl's trip vibes. This also plays into Bell and Morales' strengths as performers since Bell is a great reactor and Morales will commit to anything, including shoving goo into her face.
Likewise, the film visually reinforces how Vanessa feels via its desert location, so right when Vanessa feels the most alone she's literally in the middle of nowhere.
What I low key love about this movie is how it treats this entire experience as perpetually incomplete for Vanessa. As kind as this alien is, she isn't actually her best friend and can't give her closure or the answers she so desperately wants. A lot of movies treat grief as something you can get over or move on from, with a lot of work, but you can get over it. You'll make peace.
What's often not said, is that making peace is about embracing a lack of peace or closure. Vanessa consistently wonders about whether or not a business decision would've made the necessary impact in her friend's life. And honestly? There's no way to know. And that's ok. The key is not ruminating on what could've been different.
By the end Vanessa isn't fixed, but she's getting better. And that's beautiful in it's own way. What I like about the title is that it isn't even close to true for Vanessa at the start of the film, and even if it's not entirely true by the film's end, she's closer.
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