Elizabeth Blue-Review

Mental illness is never an easy topic to tackle but it is a subject we must explore and try to understand with all its complexities. In ELIZABETH BLUE first time filmmaker Vincent Sabella gives us a view into a very complicated subject. The film is loosely based on Vincent’s experience as a diagnosed schizophrenic about a time in his life when all of his medications failed.

The film opens with Elizabeth(Anna Scahfer) being released from a psychiatric hospital and returns to her apartment where she lives with her fiance, Grant(played by Ryan Vincent). With help from her psychiatrist, Dr. Bowman(played by AdewaleAkinnuoye-Agbaje) and loving support from Grant, Elizabeth works hard on controlling her mental stability as she plans her wedding.

As we watch Elizabeth try to manage the voices in her head and anxiety to get her life in order you come to appreciate one’s own mental good health. What the average person will consider normal and navigate with ease becomes an insurmountable hurdle for Elizabeth. And when you add in a very judgemental and unforgiving mother played by (Kathleen Quinlan) one can only feel sympathy for Elizabeth and her daily struggles.

In this film, Vincent captures the importance of believing in love to cure and uplift us when we need it most especially in the scenes when Grant reassures Elizabeth that he will always be there for her no matter what.  In “Elizabeth Blue” Vincent explores how love can give us hope, keep us motivated and pushes us to be the best that we can be.

Elizabeth Blue is a human drama and at times a psychological thriller with a very intriguing ending (no spoiler alerts) !!