Parachute review: troubled people struggle with life

Parachute, an intense drama from director Brittany Snow, tells a gritty and difficult story about a young woman with food and body issues.

Parachute begins the day Riley (Courtney Eaton) comes out of rehab for her eating disorder. She meets Ethan (Thomas Mann), who just got out of jail that day. In spite of knowing that forming a new relationship is not a good idea, the two of them stick together.

For a long time they try to function as just friends. When they try to take it further it doesn’t work. Riley leans on Ethan. He props her up and supports her. He’s had a lot of practice in codependent relationships taking care of his alcoholic father (Joel McHale).

But Ethan leans on her as well. She lives in a place her absent mother pays for and buys them meals with her mother’s credit card. He’s a kind-hearted slacker of a guy who never seems to be working. He’s always there for her.

Riley tries. She really want to be better. But she can’t control her thoughts, her self-hatred, her obsession with her weight and with food. She goes irregularly to therapy with Dr. Akerman (Gina Rodriguez) but lies about her life.

Riley’s friend Casey (Francesca Reale) helps her get a waitress job in a dinner theater. The place is run by Bryce (Dave Bautista). People guess the solution to the mystery early in the play and the place is failing. After Riley has been working there for many months, she tells Bryce that she’s a crime buff and thinks she could write a play for the theater that would keep the puzzle going until the end. He lets her and it’s a hit. Finally, Riley has done something right with her life.

The story covers a period of years. We see the progress and the setbacks in Riley’s mental health and in her relationship with Ethan. It’s hard to watch. Courtney Eaton does a terrific job as Riley, but Riley is not easy to like. There are few people in her life who do like her. Courtney Eaton manages to make us care about her and hope for some improvement, some recovery from her demons.

The film feels real, viscerally real. This is real life with joys and sorrows that come from the heart. It’s Brittany Snow’s first full length feature directing effort, and she picked a deeply emotional topic to explore. She co-wrote the story with Becca Gleason. Snow is off to a good start as a director with Parachute.

You can see this film on Peacock or rent it on Prime Video.