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Purgatory. In Catholicism, it is the temporary afterlife residence of the souls of those who are saved but die with unforgiven sins or who have punishment due for sin. More or less, it is a holding place, a sort of halfway house for the soul. The idea is that Purgatory is the place where the soul is purified of any residual sin before entering Heaven; purification can take a short time or a long time, depending on the amount of sin the person must atone for. Once the purification process is complete, the soul enters Heaven.
Knowing this, the title of this film is even more apropos. Silver Strand is a lonely 14-year-old girl; she feels ignored by her newly-married father, used by her drug-dealing boyfriend Sam, and rejected by her friends. Finding no comfort or purpose in love, friends, or drugs, Silver commits suicide and finds herself in Purgatory House, a halfway house where time is frozen: for the rest of eternity, Silver will wear the same clothes, hair, and makeup she wore when she died; she will always stay 14; her room will always look the same as her bedroom back on Earth. She herself will never change, but is daily forced to watch as life on Earth goes on without her. (Ironically, when she comes to Purgatory House, she is also given all the drugs she wants, ad infinitum. This seems like an odd idea at first, but actually makes a lot of sense; drugs were one of the few things that gave her any sense of belonging on Earth, and they were the means by which she killed herself. And while she is in no danger of overdosing here, drugs will provide only a temporary distraction for her, which is of no help during an eternity at the PH.
Much like its namesake, the Purgatory House is a place where Silver must work through the very problems that caused her to take her own life. She must rethink her views of life, others, and herself before her soul finds its atonement.
Content
When I watched the film the first time, my initial feeling was that it was overdramatic (especially during a poem/monologue in the last part that began with the word, “Melancholy”.) and over-the-top. But then I remembered that this is a semi-autobiographical film written by a 14-year-old girl about things she struggled with. It seemed overdramatic to me at first, because I’m an adult; things that were a HUGE deal when I was that age are insignificant now. Then I went through and watched the film again, this time seeing it through the eyes of a teenager; I got a lot more out of it the second time, and it was much less melodramatic. So, a word of advice: when/if you watch this film, try to see it from the perspective of a 14-year-old and not that of an adult.
Considering that this film was fully written by a 14-year-old girl, it is surprisingly good. The dialogue is realistic, and the acting is very good. Celeste Davis does a great job in her debut performance. (I know, some people might think, “How hard is it to play yourself?” Actually, it can sometimes be more difficult to play yourself, especially if the subject matter is sensitive or hits close to home.) Jim Hanks is also excellent in his portrayal of the dry chaperone of Purgatory House, St. James.
-WARNING! Spoiler Ahead!-
The story is wonderfully original in its take on life, death, and the afterlife. However, the ending was extremely confusing and didn’t seem to fit the rest of the film. The audience assumes that there is some point for Silver being in Purgatory House. Because Purgatory is a “holding place” for the afterlife (and not an eternal residence in itself), we assume that Silver is there until she works through (or in some way “atones” for) the reasons that drove her to her suicide. However, in the end, Silver and the rest of the young people at Purgatory House are able to escape by joining hands in a circle and chanting while they focus all of their energy and thoughts on going back. Not only did this seem to be a “deus ex machina”, but it seemed to diminish everything that the film had been leading up to. It left me wondering what the point was of having Silver go through everything at Purgatory House if all she had to do to get out was to get everyone to (figuratively) click their heels together three times and wish to be back home.
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