2:37 (2006)

Brief: The lives of seven high school students (Teresa Palmer, Joel Mackenzie, Frank Sweet, Clementine Mellor, Charles Baird, Sam Harris, and Marni Spillane) with secrets are put under the microscope the same day that one of them commits suicide.

What a stomach churning nightmare from first time director/writer/editor/producer Murali K. Thalluri. I can barely get the hellish images out of my head. But let's back up a bit.

No one is listed, so I really don't know who to thank, but the costuming in this movie was excellent. I learned so much about these characters by the way they dressed, and it was done with nuance and detail. I can't go into it here without giving too much away, but I assure you that if you pay attention, you will be rewarded.

Congratulations are in order to Thalluri for taking an inexperienced cast and directing them in such honest and vulnerable performances. Almost every beat is subtly underplayed and expressed in a way that feels fresh. The standout is the mesmerizing Palmer (pictured) as Melody. Melody, to my mind, is one of the two most difficult characters to play, and Palmer infuses her with such genuine emotion that your heart breaks for her.

For such a short running time (91 minutes here), Thalluri packs in an incredible amount of plot without it feeling rushed. Mind you, he cannily uses black and white interviews to prevent a lot of the exposition clunking. He also has the camera follow around the students from behind a fair bit, sneaking up on them around corners as their paths cross in the school, giving the viewer the sense that they are watching real events as they unfold. He manages to fit in blink-and-you-miss-'em clues as to who won't make it through the day in the midst of all this.

Despite the fact that I haven't a bad word to say against the movie, I can't help thinking that there is something wrong with it. Maybe it's the gut-wrenching images I can't shake free from my mind. Maybe it's the idea that all these sad, fucked-up lives could intersect on a regular basis. Maybe it's the fact that it should have a profound impact on me, alter my perspective, and give me insight, but all it really does is make me a little sad and really sick to my stomach. B