Holden On (2017) User Reviews

Sobering

[fmwongmd · 6/10 · 25 August 2019]

A thoughtful look at schizophrenia with some interesting information. Matthew Fahey does a good job of acting in the lead.

A must see film for everyone!!!!

[cwillums21 · 10/10 · 22 November 2018]

Let me begin by saying that this was a very brave film to make. This is a very emotionally heavy film. There is really no target market or demographic for it, simply a story that needed to be told. A story that was told to simply educate people about schizophrenia and the day-to-day reality of the ones that suffer from it, also the challenges of the ones closest to them to understand it. There is no hero, no bad guy, and no happy ending. There is only the true story of a young man struggling with a secret, a secret that unfortunately sometimes comes with a stigma. The film is set in the mid 1990's before social media, smart phones, and handheld g.p.s. devises, a time when people could easily disappear for a few months or even years without ever being heard from. It's a story of a young man and his downward spiral into the confusion of what was going on inside of his own head. The film also explored the many different people that Holden affiliated with at different stages of his journey, most who were unaware of his illness. The challenge that this film really tackled was visualizing what someone with schizophrenia actually goes through on a daily basis. The visuals really pull you in and force you to experience what it's like to live with this illness and the challenges of keeping it a secret from the ones closest to you. This is a powerful film that was superbly executed and I doubt that anyone that has seen it was left unaffected. On a personal note, Holden was my friend and I have a character in the film that played a small role. I'll never forget the night I heard what had happened to him. Even after all these years I'm still in disbelief. After years of waiting for the film to be completed I finally got to sit in on a much anticipated screening. It was almost difficult to watch only because the film did such an amazing job of showing the pain and anguish that Holden was going through that none of us could see at the time. At the end of the screening I met briefly with Matt Fahey, the actor that played Holden. I told him what an amazing job he did and thanked him for bringing Holden back us. As difficult as it is for a grown man in his forties to admit, upon leaving the theater I became so overwhelmed with emotion that my legs collapsed and I had to lean in the corner of the hallway and weep. So the major underlying point of this film is that if you are having a hard time in life and thinking about checking out; just remember that you are important to someone. You matter. Someone cares about you. You will be missed and mostly importantly........Just keep HOLDEN ON. Thank You, Chris Willums

Is somebody cutting onions?

[brotherbrando · 9/10 · 10 May 2019]

This one hit me pretty hard, because I can relate to it very well. I'm sure you read the title and description, now you want to know what people think about it.. well, what are you waiting for? Go watch it.

Yeah the movie's good but..

[its_phlippy · 8/10 · 2 March 2023]

I liked the movie, pretty great stuff. But oh my god the music, oh the absolutely fantastic music. It's so so so good. I'm adding all the tracks to my Spotify OST playlist. I should have known the second I saw that Andrew Prahlow composed it, this guy is legendary. He also wrote music for The Outer Wilds, one of the greatest games of all time, with an absolutely stellar soundtrack. And he created another standalone album for the game's DLC that's even better. Andrew's got this musical style that just works so well with whatever material he's composing for. More movies and games need scores from this man, it's criminal how underutilized he is.