A moving work of art…
To Write Love on Her Arms is a movie about a drug addict who is trying to get her life back together and reestablish the relationships she had lost when she was using. Actress Kat Dennings plays the character of Renee Yohe and tells the story of this young girl trying to overcome her addiction, depression, bipolar disorder, and other life issues and shows that no matter what life deals you, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Based on the true story that started a global movement which helped people overcome their innermost demons, To Write Love on Her Arms, is inspiring, though provoking, tear jerking, and overall just a phenomenal movie.
The movie starts off with Renee and her early life where she and her friends could be considered the odd ones out. However, these three friends, Renee, Dylan (Mark Saul), and Jessie (Juliana Harkavy), would rather be the odd ones out than conform to the social norm. However, with one slip up, Renee falls onto path of drugs and depression and eventually alienates her best friends. The film then skips two years into the future where Renee is a hard drug addict who one day decides that she wants to quit because she understands that drugs have only messed up her life. She turns to her old time friends Dylan, Jessie, and two new caring people David McKenna (Rupert Friend), a recovered drug addict and Renee’s life coach, and Jamie Tworkowski (Chad Michael Murray), a writer who in the end decides to tell Renee’s story, work hard to help her get her life back in order and live life happily again.
One thing about this film that needs to be talked about is Kat Dennings’ performance. Kat’s character is Renee Yohe and the way she portrays this real life person is extremely commendable. This is Kat’s most powerful and human performance of her career yet. When many actors try to play the role of an addict, they tend to be very erratic and over perform their role playing into the stigma that society has placed on people who take drugs. Dennings, however, does a terrific job of being accurate in her representations because she portrays her character as a simple and a very modest person on the exterior but what she really does well is show the depth of emotion that Renee has internally. Renee as a character has been through so much throughout her life, and with anyone dealing with depression, she has a tough exterior but internally she is facing a ton of demons that cause her to punish herself and seek escape within drugs and self-harm.
The portrayal of her mental illnesses is spot on and can only be attributed to Dennings and her phenomenal performance. Society has a stigma on people who use and abuse drugs, making them seem as though they are worth nothing, but what the majority of society chooses to ignore is that these people who use drugs are still people, and are dealing with conflict both internally and externally. What this film shows is we must not ignore someone and their cries for help. To be human means to love and to forgive.
To Write Love on Her Arms is a touching movie that aims to show the humanity in every type of person and succeeds immensely. With the unique artistic directions both with the actors’ performances and just visually, this film hits the mark in all aspects. To Write Love on Her Arms is now available on DVD and digital HD.
Jamie Tworkowski went on to found a non profit to help people who faced similar issues. Some more information about the organization can be found here. Their mission statement is below:
TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS IS A NON-PROFIT MOVEMENT DEDICATED TO PRESENTING HOPE AND FINDING HELP FOR PEOPLE STRUGGLING WITH DEPRESSION, ADDICTION, SELF-INJURY, AND SUICIDE. TWLOHA EXISTS TO ENCOURAGE, INFORM, INSPIRE, AND ALSO TO INVEST DIRECTLY INTO TREATMENT AND RECOVERY.
-Vinesh Vora
