Maybe it is the times we live in nowadays; I am becoming more sensitive to the things I watch on screen. I cannot watch hard-hitting drama, and there is only one genre that gets me excited, uplifting drama, and All Together Now on Netflix is exactly that.
I stumbled upon All Together Now, starring Auli’i Cravalho and directed by Brett Haley in a constant search of something to watch before bed. I watched the trailer and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t a cheap teenage romance movie, and I started watching it.
After 90 minutes, I was in love with the movie, the cast, and the Auli’i Cravalho’s amazing performance as Amber. A tried and tested formula worked perfectly in this film because of how perfectly Auli’i handled Amber’s character.
Positivity and Friendship Take Center Stage on All Together Now
All Together Now on Netflix is about a girl who is warm to everyone, helps people, but she is homeless and struggling to manage a normal life without anyone knowing about her condition. But when more tragedy finds root in her life, Amber has the choice to pull it out, root and steam, with help from friends or wallow in her own misery.
From the opening of the film, Amber is shown as a kind-hearted teenager. She teaches people English in a Church, taking only the money they decide to give her. She works at a donut shop to supplement her mother’s earning and maybe get an apartment.
While all those things are going on, she also needs to focus on the school where she is a great student and an organizer. Things seem to be taking a turn for the good when she gets an audition invitation to Carnegie Mellon and her mother allows her to use the money they saved to buy a plane ticket and chase her life.
But her plans are ruined when Amber realizes her mother is back with her abusive boyfriend, and a few days later, she is killed in a car accident. The smile is gone, and the passion for anything and everything else is gone.
Amber become a shell of herself, but the hits do not stop there. Her dog gets cancer, and she drops out of school to earn money and pay for the surgery. But not one step of the way does she accept help from her friends.
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Taking things from people is not something Amber does, and she shut everyone out of her life. Still, after a few weeks, she is short, and the situation gets dire when her friend Ty comes to pick her up for an event she organized.
While the event was supposed to be for raising money for a new tuba for the marching band., instead, people come together to raise money for her dog. A GoFundMe page is started, and the variety show is streamed for the world.
They fall short of the $8,000 goal, but after Amber gives a speech, someone donates $200,000. In the end, it is revealed that Amber’s grumpy friend at the nursing home was the one who made the donation.
She considered Amber her family and giving her the money to start a new life was her gift to Amber. The movie played with heavy themes from start to finish, and underneath it, all was a genuine attempt to bring together an uplifting film.
The Verdict
After I was done watching the film, a realization hit me about why the movie looked so familiar. I went through the cast, and nothing ticked, then I looked at the director and found out he is the same person who directed one of my recent favorite movies Heart Beat Loud, starring Nick Offerman and the amazing Kiersey Clemons.
The style and the way of direction were so similar, which is why I was watching the movie so closely. Even though I knew it was a teen-drama with little comedy, I couldn’t help but feel sad for Amber; the same way Hearts Beat Loud made me feel.
But, there was a big payoff at the end, an almost tearjerker moment which I wholeheartedly enjoyed. I used to be a snob when it comes to movies like these, but All Together Now and many films like these are slowly swaying me away from my snobbery. This film on Netflix is a definite recommendation from my side.
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All Together Now Amber Auli’i Cravalho Netflix
Last modified: September 4, 2020
