Though the world of feel-good movies is remarkably vast, one would think that there would be little room for a film whose title represents a particularly violent form of suicide. And yet Wristcutters: A Love Story has managed to turn suicide into a meaningful life experience. Or, at least it is for Zia (Fugit), who chooses the titular method of offing himself, and wakes up in an afterlife that's just like life on earth. only a little bit worse. Everything is gray, nothing works properly, and nobody smiles. Ever. But still, Zia is as happy as can be expected; the only thing he misses from life is his ex-girlfriend. So when he finds out that she, too, has killed herself, he embarks on a quest across the mundane netherworld to find her.
The film is deliciously dark, but a morbid premise doesn't stop Wristcutters from being uplifting at the same time. Director Dukic has constructed his love story with such a wonderful balance of dark humor and empathy. The film's characters have come to the lowest points in their lives, and one cannot help but feel both their despair and their joy at discovering that there is still hope. The most beautiful thing about Wristcutters is that the emotions it provokes seem to come, not from the film, but from within the viewer's own soul. Knowing that Zia's life and his capacity to love have not ended with death makes it impossible, despite all expectations, not to smile.
