PARACINEMA: SUICIDE FOR BEGINNERS
A dark setup delivers more laughs than expected
Spoilers for Suicide for Beginners (2022). Trigger warnings for brief mentions of suicide.
In a brief talk after the screening of Suicide for Beginners, director and co-writer Craig Thieman explained that the premise for this pitch-black comedy came from a simple idea: how could someone get writer’s block when writing a suicide note?
The answer, as we find out over 90 blood-soaked minutes, is that the main character Garrett (Will Daniels) is writing the note for someone else. His neighbour Mia (Sara Tomko) is tied up in the basement, having been the object of Garrett’s affections for some time, and he plans to make her death look like suicide.
That Thieman manages to drag genuinely funny moments from this dark, incel behaviour is to his credit. Aided in no small part by the game performances from the cast. Daniels has the look and demeanour of a Re-Animator era Jeffrey Combs, perpetually irritated by the people around him and continuing to push forward with a plan that everyone can see is bound to fail.
His plan becomes increasingly complex when loud-mouthed pizza delivery driver Rick (Nate Panning) and his well-meaning girlfriend Abigail (Julia Lehman) force their way into the house, worried about Garrett’s mental health. They’re quickly followed by Mia’s landlord Barry (Sid Haig in his final screen role), leading to a basement full of witnesses that Garrett has no practical way to get rid of.
The script crackles with excellent back and forth, none of which is particularly original (Rick, and everyone else, finds his partner annoying; Barry is an old war vet prone to spouting violent rhetoric etc) but which is delivered with such gusto that the audience can’t help but be dragged along with it.
A particular highlight is the awkward exchange between Rick, Abigail and Garrett after they force their way in. At this point, Garrett hasn’t been able to bring himself to commit murder, but you can see the character become more resigned to the violence to come through the snappy dialogue and firm stares.
Apart from some brief moments, Thieman builds to the violence. There’s a rather nasty moment with Rick in the opening half but when Thieman does open the floodgates he goes all out. There’s an excellent, very funny sequence when Garrett rampages through the cul-de-sac – including a neat cameo from Corey Feldman – which showcases the practical effects work by Chris Dols, Tony Rosen and Damian Fisher.
And Haig brings a lot to his small role. Thieman noted that the late actor had a sixth sense for knowing exactly what to add to his scenes, be it a gesture or an ad-lib, and it shows here that he was still very much at the top of his game. In hindsight, it would have been nice to see more of him in the film.
This certainly won’t be for everyone. The setup necessitates a very dark sense of humour but those who are drawn in will find that Thieman and co-writer Ethan Hunter have great timing, always finding a spot for a funny line or a visual gag to break the tension. It runs a little long, with the finale becoming even more convoluted, but Suicide for Beginners is never dull and should have no problem finding an audience.
Director: Craig Thieman
Writers: Craig Thieman, Ethan Hunter
Starring: Will Daniels, Nate Panning, Julia Lehman, Sara Tomko, Sid Haig
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