Trigger warning: This review and the film itself deal extensively with suicidal ideation.

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Only perhaps we’re not. After 8.2 million Americans protested the Trump Administration during the No Kings protests in October, President Trump responded in character. That is to say, he posted an A.I. generated video of himself flying a fighter jet and literally dumping shit on fellow Americans. The political division is real, and it might be as bad as the run up to the Civil War.

Social division isn’t much better. Coincidentally, Schwarzenegger’s newsletter this morning mentioned the epidemic of loneliness, particularly among young men. I learned that, according to the American Psychiatric Association, approximately 30% of American adults report weekly loneliness, with a particular emphasis among young men. A young man dealing with significant mental illness and deep loneliness is a dangerous thing, as we’re reminded by the new indie film Saving Saul.

When we first meet Saul (Ryan Schafer), he’s attempting to hang himself. Much like virtually everything else in his life, his suicide attempt is not a success. He crashes to the ground in his bleak room, stands, and shambles out into the bleak house he shares with Grandma Diana (Mickey Faerch). The old woman is bedridden and dying, yet she’s still vigorous enough to psychologically abuse Saul. He takes it. Why? Because that’s what he does.

The rest of Saul’s life operates on a similar miserable wavelength. While he’s profoundly mentally ill, his counselor Carry (Randy Davison) behaves more like a multilevel marketer. Saul’s also obsessed with Becky Baby (Augie Duke), a cam girl, and doesn’t seem to understand that the relationship operates in one direction. His support group for adult virgin men feels less like a safe place and more like a pressure cooker. 

Saul is fast approaching his twenty-seventh birthday. He’s decided that if he can’t lose his virginity by the time his birthday hits, he’ll commit suicide. Between you and me, I don’t love his chances, since his psyche marinates in misogyny, depression, loneliness, and barely contained rage. Can he get help? No, because in the world he lives in, help doesn’t exist. And did I mention that, after everything I’ve just told you, Sincerely Saul is supposed to be a comedy?

As I’ve said ad infinitum, two things can be true at the same time. When it comes to Sincerely Saul, I believe that if you are a) a sentient human being who is b) alive, you will not have a nice time with this movie. I also believe that director Ian Tripp has made precisely the film he’s set out to make. I don’t know if his film is an homage to David Lynch’s Eraserhead, but it’s hard not to make that comparison when Tripp has shot his film in oversaturated black and white. It’s a smart choice, and that creates a harsh and surreal tone. That’s how Saul sees the world, as a place that’s constantly painful. So much so that late in the film, when a long lost cousin (Beth Gallagher) arrives at his doorstep and attempts to reconnect, Saul can only look at it as another black joke at his expense.

Tripp wrote the screenplay, and while his film has been described as a black comedy, it’s not what I would call funny. It’s not supposed to be. The sense I get is that Tripp is interested in drilling down on two concepts. The first is that he’s made a satire of twenty-first century masculinity, where cruelty is mistaken for strength. The second, and far trickier idea, is Tripp offering empathy for people who don’t seem to believe that they deserve it. As I watched the film, I kept thinking, “Saul is not a character I like, and he’s definitely not someone I enjoy hanging out with. But I want this guy to get help and be okay.” 

Speaking of which, with a single exception, the entire cast plays characters that aren’t so much people as they are massive caricatures of people. From the sleazy cop (Karl Backus) romancing Grandma Diana to the snide comic shop owner (Ty Mabrey) to the madam (Caroline Amiguet) running the cam show operation, they’re all a parade of grotesqueries. They’re all acting on the same broad note, and I think they’re supposed to be since we’re seeing Saul’s skewed view of the world. As Saul himself, Ryan Schafer shows us a deeply damaged man who’s unable to function. He’s a mostly passive protagonist, which isn’t surprising considering how bad things have gotten for him. It’s such an immersive performance in such a deeply unpleasant film that, when Beth Gallagher’s Cousin Elizabeth knocks on Saul’s door, it’s jarring to be confronted with a kind person. Gallagher only really appears in that single scene, and she’s a badly needed light in the darkness.

Is Sincerely Saul the movie we need right now? Good question, and I don’t know the answer to that. I’m all for radical compassion, and God knows now is the time for that. But, first, perhaps we need to truly look in the mirror and reckon with what we’re becoming. I’m not sure anyone should see Sincerely Saul, but while it might not be the movie we need, it’s definitely the movie for this moment. 

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Tim Brennan Movie Critic

Tim has been alarmingly enthusiastic about movies ever since childhood. He grew up in Boulder and, foolishly, left Colorado to study Communications in Washington State. Making matters worse, he moved to Connecticut after meeting his too-good-for-him wife. Drawn by the Rockies and a mild climate, he triumphantly returned and settled down back in Boulder County. He's written numerous screenplays, loves hiking, and embarrassed himself in front of Samuel L. Jackson. True story.