A Good Person

On Sky Cinema in the UK.

Zach Braff writes and directs this often dark look at loss, addiction and forgiveness. Florence Pugh is Allie a pharmaceutical rep, happy and engaged to Nathan (Chinaza Uche). However when driving with Nathan’s sister, Molly, and Husband a momentary mistake leads to the most tragic consequences, that sees the death of her passengers and rips apart the lives of Nathan, his Father Daniel (Morgan Freeman) and his granddaughter, Ryan (Celeste O’Connor). 12 months later we find Allie split from Nathan, living at home, addicted to painkillers and spiralling downwards. When she seeks help with a support group, she finds Daniel, struggling to control his own addictions which brings Allie back in contact with the family whose lives were ripped a part, especially Molly’s daughter. The films follows the struggles of all of them as they try to handle grief, addiction and find forgiveness.

Braff has delivered a well told and often moving story. It looks at how one incident tears apart lives in ways that are impossible to recover from and at best you can hope to live with. Exploring the different ways people cope and don’t.

While heartfelt it does occasionally drift into the melodramatic, especially in a party scene in its final third, which feels a little out of place. It is much better in its quiet moments, some intense, some moving and some humourous.

What really makes this film work though is Florence Pugh. She is, almost as expected, outstanding as Allie. She is compelling and demands your attention every moment she is onscreen. With a performance full of subtle intensity, heart and humour. She creates a character whose pain you feel and who you grow to care for. She is also well supported by both Morgan Freeman and Celeste O’Connor especially.

A Good Person is not perfect. It is a dark, heartfelt and occasionally light look at grief and addiction. But what elevates this above the average is a fabulous Florence Pugh performance. She is compelling and takes you along every difficult step with her to produce a more than watchable film.