Film Review: You Won’t Miss Me

Ry Russo's film tells the painfully realistic tale of a New York City misfit

By Alysse Dalessandro
Published: December 10th, 2010 | 12:30am

Reality shows are supposed to mirror real life, but in reality, they are edited to reflect the most compelling dialogue. And scripted films, well, it’s rare to see a film that includes authentically awkward touches or extended uncomfortable arguments. But You Won’t Miss Me is a film that pushes the viewers’ boundaries of comfort and puts them right in the real world of the leading lady, Shelly, played by Stella Schnabel.

The film is told entirely from the perspective of the 23-year-old urban misfit, Shelly. As she seeks acceptance, she is film’s only recurring element and the glue that holds what could seem like a disjointed film together. In one scene, a boyfriend beats up her up and in another; she’s partying with the Virgins in Atlantic City. Shelly endures awkward sexual encounters, failed acting auditions, and escapes it all with drug highs and lows.

The style of dialogue is consistent through scenes as the characters engage in random and sometimes meaningless conversations. One friend talks about creating “Golden Girls Gone Wild” based on “slutty elders” and later about how she got a sty from lending her eyeliner to a friend. The slow, random dialogue feels real, even if it makes the film drag on slowly at times.

You Won't Miss Me is shot using five different formats which makes some scenes overly dark and others fuzzy. Like the dialogue, the shot variety is refreshing and artful, but makes the overall movie a little tough to follow.

Shelly is the film’s most compelling element. Though she is not a particularly likeable character, watching her encounters is uncomfortable and sad. Director Ry Russo, who wrote the film along with Schnabel, calls Shelly “a fascinating, horrifying and non-apologetic specimen of modern humanity” in her director’s statement—which is fairly apt.

Watching Shelly’s life unfold is sort of like watching an episode of Intervention, except no one seems to be interceding on her behalf; she's surrounded by people who don’t really care about her. After a particularly heinous fight, a friend tells Shelly, “You’re one of those people who’s going to kill themselves in five years so I don’t want to implicate myself in anything.” The slowly unfolding scene scene paints Shelley’s despair and loneliness in a painfully realistic light.

You Won't Miss Me won't leave you feeling upbeat, happy, or even hopeful, but if you can stomach some discomfort, you'll experience a film that's truly grounded in the real world.