Suicide Kids

Suicide Kids is a 2009 American dark comedy drama film written and directed by Christopher Smith, and starring Gene Gallerano, Freya Moran, Ian Bell, Samantha Holden, and Tom Slot. The film depicts Malcolm Holt, a 22-year-old living in Westchester County, NY, as he struggles to understand a series of prophetic dreams that propel him to reevaluate the direction his life is taking.
The film was shot entirely on location in June 2009 and is currently in post-production.
Plot
Malcolm Holt was an average five-year-old - until his kindergarten teacher sent him home with a suicide note pinned to his sweater. Ever since, he’s been served a main course of therapy sessions and psychiatric evaluations, all washed down with a cocktail of antidepressants. Malcolm knows he’s not the “suicide kid” everyone claims he is; he just needs the chance to prove it.
But at 22, four months out of college, unemployed, and stuck living at home, Malcolm’s chances are bleak. He spends his days fighting with his mother about his would-be career as a photographer and his nights getting drunk and high with his two best friends, Lincoln and Jess. At a loss, Malcolm is content to self-medicate with substances - until a series of prophetic dreams about his friends leaving him, his ex-girlfriend returning home, and his father reaching out to him from beyond the grave prompt him to consider a new path.
Lonely after Jess departs to Manhattan for a new job, Malcolm’s malaise is tempered when his ex-girlfriend, Mara Regnault, reappears in his life, much as his dreams predicted. Unnerved by his nightly visions, Malcolm seeks counsel from Gregory Crowley, better known around Westchester as the Holy Hustler, a mystic and pool shark. Gregory takes Malcolm under his wing, offering him spiritual advice and crucial support. Despite the worried protests from his friends, Malcolm and Gregory grow close.
His mother’s rising anger over his unemployment finally erupts and she threatens to throw him out of the house unless he finds any job. Malcolm is furious, but concedes to let Jess set up an interview at her company in the City. But despite her best efforts to sell him on a City lifestyle she herself isn’t sold on, Malcolm can’t bring himself to give up on his dreams of being a photographer and walks out of the interview.
Back in Westchester, Malcolm and Lincoln discuss his alternatives, and Malcolm semiseriously suggests getting a job at the pharmacy where Lincoln works. Lincoln warns him against retail and tells his friend to just look out for himself. Their evening plans to get drunk fall apart when Lincoln’s manager forces him to stay late, but the encounter does give Malcolm the idea to try freelancing as a photographer for the town newspaper.
Armed with a job, Malcolm confronts his mother, who promptly throws him out of the house for not getting “a real job.” Undaunted, Malcolm moves in with Gregory and plunges forward. He also begins rekindling a relationship with Mara, taking her out and attempting to atone for breaking up with her. Despite the tension between them, Mara is receptive to his advances, and Malcolm’s life seems on an unstoppable upswing.
But when one of his best friends commits suicide, Malcolm’s world is thrown into chaos. Resentment over the treatment he has received, coupled with private guilt over his own moments of self-abuse, bubble over and threaten to undermine the progress he’s made. Mara and Gregory both struggle to help him, but Malcolm rejects all help and is forced to confront what he has been running from since kindergarten.
Cast
<li>Gene Gallerano as Malcolm Holt
<li>Freya Moran as Mara Regnault
<li>Ian Bell as Lincoln McCarthy
<li>Samantha Holden as Jess Cauffield
<li>Tom Slot as Gregory Crowley
<li>Jill Knell as Gwendolyn Holt
<li>Josh Tane as Jeff Holt
<li>Andrew Roth as Jason Stahl
<li>Charley Young as Lindsay O'Neill
<li>Amanda Broomell as Bev Sanders
<li>Marcello Praino as Manager
<li>Ira Berkowitz as Boss
Production
Filming
Suicide Kids was filmed in 14 days in the Hudson Valley. Most of the film, including the opening sequence, the gazebo scene, the park scene, Malcolm's house, Gregory's Apartment, Iron Willies, and the scenes at the Croton Reservoir, was shot in Yorktown Heights, NY, the first feature film ever shot in that town, according to IMDB.<ref name="imdb.com"/>. The pharmacy and bowling alley are located in Jefferson Valley, NY. The funeral scene was shot at the chapel at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Locations in New York City included Grand Central Terminal, a Brooklyn apartment, and a SoHo sidewalk.
Music
Allston, Massachusetts-based band Love in Stockholm contributed their original song "Don't Be Fooled" to both the opening credits in the film and the original soundtrack. Poughkeepsie-based band Bread Anyways appears in the film during a scene at Iron Willies, the pool hall, where the Holy Hustler makes eyes with the lead singer before offering Malcolm advice about meditation; Bread Anyways performs their original song "Walking."
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