MLFF 2016 : MYRTLE BEACH – Review

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has been a vacation destination for many over the years. Rather than focusing on the fantasy, directors Neil Rough and Michael Fuller want to tell a darker side to the fun-in-the-sun playground with their Mammoth Lakes Film Festival selected documentary, MYRTLE BEACH.

MYRTLE BEACH follows the lives of several residents living their lives in, mostly, solitude around the hustle and bustle of the tourist city. The filmmakers jump back and fourth amongst their all male subjects to weave together the common threads of loneliness, mental illness, and troubled pasts.

We don’t really get to know them by their names, although a few do mention them. Instead, the filmmakers start by showing the characteristics of each individuals personality, and then slowly unravel the yarn to show the parallels of their lives.

The most important thing to take from this film is that mental illness is real, and it is incredibly isolating. None of these men speak of a family, other than in the past tense, and they show no signs of having friendships, other than a few with animals. The men all seem to have a common thread of spirituality, and lack of fear of death. The one man that does not speak of religion instead speaks of conspiracy theories and higher powers, which still ties into the spirituality that these men found amongst their mental and emotional pain. They all also seem to think that whatever they are doing in life, the goal is to do the right thing. They truly think that they are impacting society in a positive way… and you know what? Who’s to say that they aren’t?

The film is raw, and I get the impression that the filmmakers weren’t trying to paint their subjects in a negative light by picking the most eccentric of clips. They took care with the handling of this story, and I really respect them for that. Instead, the film reminds me a bit of the film GUMMO. There is definitely a correlation to income levels, economics, and general location that come into play. None of these men are well off. Instead, they all live in the solitude of a 72.3% white city where the average male median income is just under $27,000. It shows, since all but one of the men live in small apartments with no frills, or on the streets.

My only complaint about the film, and it’s a minor one, is that the narrative threads don’t start to come together until much later and the film, leaving the audience in the dark. The focus of MYRTLE BEACH is to show a real look at mental illness, and the filmmakers achieve that. After all, the audience is merely there to listen.

You can check out MYRTLE BEACH on their Facebook or Website.