Clouds

Clouds is a Disney+ original film and it's a film I was intrigued about but was unsure how it would deal with its subject topic whilst under the Disney brand. In case you're unaware, Disney have a brand to keep their content family friendly and whilst Clouds is a family film, I think it's a debate on whether it's family friendly because this is one of the most emotional and saddest films I've ever seen.

Starting off the positives, easily the best thing about this film is just how the main story is tackled. A young boy is diagnosed with terminal cancer and sets out to become a singer before he dies. That immediately becomes an engaging story and it could have come off as melodramatic but instead the story is explored very sensitively and fully relys on its characters to tell the story and not just the subject matter.

Speaking of the characters, I loved pretty much all the characters in this film. Zach, the main character, is just a great character to watch. He's someone who wants to appear all happy go lucky but deep down is scared about his future and that really gets you to care about him. He has some fantastic relationships with his family, friend and girlfriend who are all greatly utilised characters and it also helps when we have great actors portraying them.

Fin Argus is just fantastic as Zach, Neve Campbell is also in this film and she gives one of the best performances I've seen her do. Some other standouts are Sabrina Carpenter as Zachs best friend and Madison Iseman as his girlfriend and they both give such heartbreaking performances, it's impossible not to feel sorry for them. As I stated before, this film fully relys on its characters and their reactions to tell this story and it succeeds with flying colours.

The songs in this film are just beautifully written and performed with such heart and passion. I'm not a musical guy and I don't usually pay attention to the lyrics in songs as much but the songs performed in this film are just incredible and the lyrics are just beautiful and might I add just how catchy some of them are, especially when it comes to the sell known and YouTube sensation Clouds.

This film also has a satisfying amount of emotional payoff towards the third act. Along the films journey, it's a real emotional roller coaster and when we get toward the end of the film, there's a scene that happens that is heartbreaking, emotionally moving and satisfying all at the same time.

Finally, the biggest praise I can give this film is its the first film in over 10 years that made me shed a tear when watching it. There are only two films I have watched that made me cry; Bridge to Terabithia and Marley and Me. The fact this film got to me that much makes me love it even more.

Moving onto the mixed aspect of the film now and this is just to say this film is NOT for everyone. This is a very sad and emotionally driven film that not everyone will enjoy and certain people may find it hard to watch.

Onto the negatives and honestly, I only have one negative that is like a one percent nitpick and that is I feel at times, the film relied on the emotion a bit too much. There's times where it does feel a bit much and too directly in your face.

Besides that, this is just a beautifully made and emotional film that is a very strong contender for my number one film of the year.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐