I Love You Forever

I Love Your Forever is a good early film for directors Cazzie David and Elisa Kalani. It isn’t the best-looking film, but parts of it made me cringe more than any gore film. The film follows Mackenzie (Sofia Black-D’Elia), a law student who is in a meaningless situationship until she meets-cutes with a handsome news reporter Finn (Ray Nicholson) and they begin a whirlwind romance. Everything is perfect until Finn becomes exceedingly possessive and manipulative of Mackenzie. This film covers the gamut of emotionally abusive relationship tactics in this one relationship. Finn starts the courtship by flying her out to wherever he’s reporting from, buying her expensive jewelry, and being a textbook-perfect boyfriend while they’re together.

Once she left to be with friends or go to class, he would call nonstop and text as if there were an emergency, only to turn it around and make Mackenzie think she was in the wrong for not always being entirely available to him. We follow this relationship as she becomes a shell of a person, failing law school, losing friendships, and even when she tries to surprise her boyfriend with a cute, thoughtful date, he uses that as ammunition to hurt her, keeping her completely trapped in the relationship.

This film was strangely advertised on the Blu-ray case as a rom-com that goes wrong. This moniker is a little confusing; there are some stabs at a comedic tone with the introduction of Mackenzie’s best friends Ally (CazzieDavid) and Lucas (John Rudnitsky), who mostly just come off as vapid Gen Zer’s rather than interesting comic relief. This shallow attempt at comedy in the film creates a strange tone throughout the runtime. The relationship between Mackenzie and Finn is horrifying, and some scenes will make you want to shout at the screen for her to run away or peel your skin off in the amount of cringe it elicits.

Although this story is harrowing, the shifting tones never really alleviate the tension like comic relief should and because of the failed comedy the movie plays out with a scene of the most horrible emotional abuse I’ve seen in a movie followed up with a scene where you’re left to wonder if it was supposed to be funny this film would be better if they stuck to the tone of a normal drama without the shoehorned in Rom Com elements that get abandoned after the original meet-cute, or lean heavier into those rom com elements that would create an interesting juxtaposition with the horrible relationship being shown.

Despite the tonal inconsistencies, I would recommend watching I Love You Forever. The two leads are promising young actors who make this film worth watching, and for an early film coming from the two directors, Cazzie David and Elisa Kasani, this is a solid beginning to their careers. I would recommend skipping this movie if you have been in an emotionally abusive relationship, because the scenes depicting said abuse are tough to watch and could be triggering. Having said that, I would recommend watching this movie; it’s a good start for young filmmakers, but I am not sure if it’s a movie worth keeping in your collection. I would recommend streaming it while it’s available.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
This release is a single region-free Blu-ray housed in a clear case with the film’s only poster as the cover art. If you order it from Vinegar Syndrome's website, you can pick up an exclusive slipcover. 

The video in this release is average for a Blu-ray. It is shown in 1080p and is clear and not too dark throughout the film. The cinematography in this film is somewhat flat, which is okay for this genre. There is usually a sanitized look to most films released by young filmmakers today, which makes them all look the same and, frankly, like soap operas. This film actually succeeds in not looking totally flat all the time. There's a scene where Finn sends MacKenzie a living room full of purple flowers, and they don’t totally pop on screen, which is a bummer, but it still looks ok. Despite the film looking average, I didn’t hate what I was looking at, and it served the film well.

The audio on this release is in DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0. The sound is also very serviceable in this release. The audio comes through clearly, and the dialogue is never muddled. There are a couple of good songs that add a bit of youth to this film, but they never overstay their welcome, nor do they distract from the drama unfolding on screen. Overall, the sound is quite average, which just means that it serves its purpose in this release.

This release has a small but mighty number of supplements. There’s no audio commentary along with this release, which is honestly surprising; there is only footage from a post-screening Q&A and audience reactions, as well as one deleted scene. Included in this release are:

• Q&A - NYC Screening (17:43)
• Audience Interviews/reactions - post NYC Screening (1:42)
• Deleted Scene (12:46)
• Outtakes
• Trailer (1:50)
• Behind the Scenes Stills Gallery

I Love You Forever is a good movie, and this release is pretty average. The film itself is definitely worth watching unless you were in a similar emotionally abusive relationship, because some of these scenes were incredibly effective in eliciting a physical reaction in response to seeing the abuse Finn put Mackenzie through. This release has some rudimentary supplements, which are nice to have, but are not the biggest sell for this release. Overall, everything about this release is average. The audiovisuals serve the film well; there’s nothing bad about them on this disc. The movie itself is worth watching, but I suggest streaming it before buying, just so you know it's an essential pickup for your collection. Worth A Look