YMMV / All the Bright Places

• Alternate Aesop Interpretation: Charlie states that they've learned to accept Finch's erratic behavior of disappearing for a while and not calling, assuming he will always come back. One could argue that the lesson here is that it's all too easy to normalize danger signs that only become so after the fact.
• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Finch's attraction to Violet — is he more interested in playing the part of the Manic Pixie Dream Guy; determined to bring her out of her shell and just happening to fall in love with her along the way? Or was he drawn to a girl he hoped had problems like him and would therefore be able to help him? Or did he simply see her as a new project that helped keep him "awake", only for him to lose interest? Or did he see a new girl as a chance at a clean slate (his problems escalate when he messes up, when he'd been reasonably in control before)? Some combination of all four?
  • Amanda's disdain of Finch could just be from hearing rumors about him, and he did admittedly get violent on her friend — so she does have a reason to be suspicious of him hanging around her best friend. Or did she perhaps recognise the same behavior in him about herself and subconsciously resent in Finch what she didn't like about her own personality?
• Awesome Music: Keegan Dewitt's beautiful score, which viewers have described as making you feel the two characters falling in love. It's simultaneously uplifting and heart breaking.
• He Really Can Act:
  • Justice Smith's only notable roles before this were in Pokémon Detective Pikachu and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Here he turns in a gripping performance of a Stepford Smiler who is both charismatic and vulnerable.
  • While Elle Fanning had been critically acclaimed as an actress before, these projects were quite divisive (most notably Maleficent and The Neon Demon). Here she's challenged with a role that requires her to convey a wide range of emotions.
• Narm Charm: Violet screaming out "Marco!" in anguish at the Blue Hole should be silly, but she's reduced to begging for Finch to respond, desperate for any confirmation that he's not dead.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • Some book fans were annoyed at the removal of some of the other places, which presumably were done for pacing reasons.
  • Several also didn't like that the first half of the film focused more on Violet than Finch, with the latter's mental health issues only coming to the forefront after the second act (the book alternates between two perspectives).
• The Woobie: A cast full of them.
  • Violet has lost her sister, and was in the car with her when the accident happened. She doesn't go in Eleanor's room, doesn't write anymore and is afraid to just feel. The girl is in need of several hugs before you've gotten halfway through.
  • Finch hides the fact that he's a survivor of abuse through layers of optimism and positivity, but he's deeply afraid that everyone will eventually leave him. He ends up committing suicide after one fight too many.
  • Amanda would be a Jerkass Woobie in the book, where she's an Alpha Bitch hiding an eating disorder and two failed suicide attempts. The film downplays her nastier moments, making her a straight-up Woobie.
  • Charlie too if you think about it. Finch's behavior does hurt him and he's had to normalize it, because he knows that his friend is terrified of everyone leaving him.

---