Parachute was released March 11, 2023 but was released by Vertical Entertainment on April 5, 2024. It was directed by Brittany Snow and co-produced with Yale Productions.
This movie was based off of Snow’s recovery process along with some of the characters that best represented those in her life. The story follows a character named Riley, who is played by Courtney Eaton, Riley had been released from rehab after struggling with body image and addictions to food. She tries to navigate through life and attempts to find contentment with resuming how she used to live. She meets Ethan, played by Thomas Mann, who first becomes a friend of Riley’s and something between the lines of friendship and love. This becomes one of Riley’s first obstacles that she has to face with returning after rehab, having to realize the differences between addiction and love.
The story progresses with Riley attempting to find a sense of belonging again and navigating through her personal relationships while battling through her own personal strife. Although the story line does center around individuals in their mid-twenties, dealing with more adult themes within the movie, the storyline can still be relevant to teenagers. Some viewers may find the movie ‘less than’ because the protagonist follows the gray-character attributes. While you understand why Riley says and does certain things based off of everything she has gone through, the audience has to witness how she actively sabotages herself and blames it on others around her because she feels helpless to do anything else about her own conflicts.
Eaton has a way to communicate to the viewers of what exactly is going on through Riley’s head with even just shifts of her focus. The apprehensiveness with food, how she dissects women around her, and how she should be a better version of herself than what she is in the present. Albeit the performance that Eaton has to give in order to bring this character to life, she is able to do it meticulously. Her performance along with her co-stars, contribute to the necessity of being more aware of how much mental health can affect oneself. To the point where they become a different person, not even recognizing themselves in the long run when they do not actively reach out for help.
