“YOU DON’T GET TO HATE IT UNLESS YOU LOVE IT.” Wow... that was one of the most incredible films I’ve seen in years. Im still processing everything I just saw and felt. As a San Francisco native, and lifelong Bay Area resident, this one affected me in so many ways, some unexpected. Overall, I feel intensely emotional. Sad, nostalgic, angry, wistful, anxious, frustrated, all of these words are accurate, but don’t quite hit the nail. I think the most succinct description of the feeling I’m experiencing is a sensation of loss, something like an unresolved goodbye. I moved from San Francisco to a small city near Oakland, but spent my teenage years jumping back and forth for concerts and weekends day trips, seeing my city slowly change as the times did. One day after a good long absence, I started to look around and realized I hardly recognized the place I grew up. This film, it’s characters, the achingly beautiful story, they all ring with gripping authenticity, with many of the experiences of the leads hitting devastatingly close to home. The performances are soulful, nuanced, and again, authentic. The film itself is lusciously shot, with one beautiful scene after another. I could go on and on. I was thoroughly under the spell of this one, and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone, with a special nod to San Francisco natives for obvious reasons