Renee

The Omaha Film festival was this past weekend. I was fortunate enough to catch the last film Renee. Chad Michael Murray starred in it with Kat Dennings and Corbin Bleu(Renee's drug buddy friend Mackie). Unfortunately, Chad had to leave unexpectedly for a new project before the movie started. Last night was the premiere of the movie. Chad hasn't even seen the movie yet.

The movie is based on a real person, Renee Yohe. Kat Dennings played Renee. Its a story of a girl who is bi-polar, a cutter and addicted to drugs. Renee is a creative person, but one Halloween night changed everything for her while she was out with her two best friends, and it took her two years to get back to them.

Mark Shaw and Juliana Harkavy star as the two best friends from high school.

Her best friend Dylan (Mark Saul) takes her to his boss (Rupert Friend) who is also fighting addiction. They try their best to get her into treatment, but even they won't take Renee until she's clean of her demons, especially cutting her arms. So she spends 5 days with her friends sobering up.

Naturally, Kat Dennings is her very sassy self in this movie, making Renee her own character. Its there at McKenna's (Rupert Grint) that Chad Michael Murray's Jamie meets Renee. He finds her to be strong willed and yet a survivor. So in turn he decides to start TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS which is "dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide."

Renee spends a good six months in rehab. She's totally shocked how this movement has helped so many people. And she might be her biggest enemy on the road to recovery.

I really enjoyed the soundtrack and the way this film was filmed, so creative! Although, at times, I did feel it got a little sappy. Thankfully, they had Kat as the star. She did become Renee who was battling a lot of things in her life. Its also a movie that shows how we need to support those going through this recovery  transition.

The film was directed by Nathan Frankowski who also wrote the story. I was very happy I got the opportunity to watch this indie film.

STORYLINE: The story follows 19-year-old Renee (Kat Dennings) who has always loved fairy tales: the idea of a princess, a hero and a happily ever after. But Renee's life is that of a darker tale: she's a young woman battling addiction, depression and self-injury. In a creative blend of artistic fantasy balanced with harsh reality, the movie follows Renee on her courageous journey towards recovery.

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Renee Yohe


TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS