Suncoast
Suncoast
SUNCOAST, inspired by Chinn's life experience from the early 2000s, follows a teenager (Nico Parker) living with her strong-willed mother (Laura Linney), who must take her brother (Cree Kawa) to live at a specialized facility. There, she strikes up an unlikely friendship with an eccentric activist (Woody Harrelson) amidst protests surrounding one of the most landmark medical cases of all time.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 2, 2025
I was looking forward to this but was somewhat disappointed by it. Nico Parker stands out as the lone bright spot in the starring role, Doris. Doris’ brother has just entered into hospice care and her mom, Kristine (Laura Linney), has essentially moved into the care facility leaving Doris to fend for herself at home. Doris, who’s weary from having been the one responsible for caring for her brother to this point finally finds some space for making some friends at her school and finding a life outside of her home. She throws parties at her now empty house, skips school to get fake ID’s, goes to clubs and goes to school dances. While her mom has lost sight of the fact that she still has a daughter with needs and wants of her own, Doris has lost sight of the fact that she needs to grieve the loss of her brother.
I was expecting an emotionally moving drama, but none of the dialogue, characters, or drama felt authentic at all. It’s ironic because this is based on a true story by the writer/director Laura Chinn. The dialogue between Doris and her friends in particular never rang true to me. Kristine’s tirades with the security officer, and Doris’ befriending of Woody Harrelson’s character felt also very contrived. Then the inclusion of Terry Schiavo being at the same hospice facility (even though it’s true) felt like an unnecessary inclusion. The Terry Schiavo case is such a potentially loaded topic, thematically, that it’s sort of weird to only be part of the window dressing here. I’m not going to recommend it, but I will be curious if this hits people differently than it did for me.