Look, if you’re gonna be part of an oppressive religion, at least pick one with some drip. You Can Live Forever is about a lesbian relationship between two girls in a Jehovah’s Witness community. And apparently their whole religious aesthetic is some fluorescent light, folding chair-ass shit. Again, if you’re gonna repress all your gay feelings for God, I feel like you should at least get some stained glass out of it.
After the death of her father, teenage Jaime moves in with her aunt in a small, largely French-speaking town. Jaime’s aunt and uncle are Jehovah’s Witnesses and while Jaime lives with them, they expect her to take part too. Luckily for Jaime, there’s a girl her age named Marike who’s the daughter of the pastor. Marike is a true Witness while Jaime only attends services out of politeness. But this doesn’t stop them from forming a close relationship. And you guessed it, that friendship turns to romance. And you guessed it again, that’s not exactly accepted by Jehovah’s Witness doctrine.
I’ve stopped trying to avoid comparing WLW films to each other at this point. I’ve seen a bunch, and almost all of them overlap at least a little. Certainly, I’ve seen other films that deal with the relationship between religion and homosexuality. Where does You Can Live Forever rank within that genre? Sort of in the middle. I thought this was a good movie, but not a great one. Part of that is down to aesthetic. Due to both budget and religious denomination, You Can Live Forever was never going to be as visually rich as something like Benedetta. From a writing standpoint, the treatment of religion and queerness is again, good but not great. Points are made, and made clearly. But they’re obvious points. The standout comparison on that axis would be The Secrets. The way that movie explored religious rules and impact on real life is exceptionally good.
A lot of You Can Live Forever feels like it’s holding itself back from being truly great. Both overall story and individual scenes usually have good set-up but the follow through is just okay. The editing is one thing that somewhat diminished the film’s impact. It often felt rushed. And the story itself perhaps spent too much time on setup only for its very emotional conclusion to feel likewise rushed.
One theme I wanted to see more from was Marike’s internal relationship between her faith and her feelings for Jaime. But perhaps because Jaime is our point of view character, we only get second-hand snippets of this connection. The first time they kiss is after they pray together. And there’s a weirdly sexy faux-baptism scene too. Marike is all-in on being a Witness. And her faith doesn’t waver over the course of the film. She believes that soon will come an apocalypse followed by an eternal paradise for the Witnesses. Jamie asks Marike to leave the church. Marike considers it. But ultimately, Marike opts to go deeper into her faith. And she tries to bring Jaime too. Jaime doesn’t have to believe; Marike will believe enough for both of them.
Speaking of comparing every WLW film I’ve seen, You Can Live Forever engages in a trope I’m tired of. And I don’t know how to explain it without sounding like an asshole. So, whatever, I’m an asshole. I just keep seeing fictional characters make the same mistake and I want to now address them directly. Look, if you’re in a situation where you know homosexuality is persecuted, maybe be more careful doing gay stuff in public. Don’t be kissing your girlfriend in broad daylight! Someone could (and did) see! Obviously, the biggest issue here is intolerance of homosexuality. But ladies, make smart decisions. Keep yourself safe. Stop making out in really obvious places so there can be a third-act dramatic fallout because someone saw.
You Can Live Forever is a perfectly good movie. I wish it was great. But not all art is great. There’s still a solid idea and good performances here. Some of the smaller moments between Jaime and Marike really shine. But I did want more. I’m greedy like that. I wanted this movie to emotionally destroy me. And while it did make me cry, I was still a functioning human being at the end. And I was really hoping I’d be rendered completely inconsolable from the sad, religious queer movie.
Overall rating: 6.7/10
Other WLW films in similar genres
Oppressive religions
Canadian movies
This needs to be wayyy higher i couldnt stop crying it was sooo goodddd
I agree, this is one of few movies I could (and did) watch countless times and it still hits. I’ve watched it with much less expectations cuz it was new back then, so I guess that adds up. This is in my top 5.