In 2017, Netflix found itself at the center of serious controversy when the teen drama series 13 Reasons Why premiered—showing, in graphic detail, the suicide of its central character, Hannah Baker. At the time, mental health experts repeatedly warned that such an unsparing depiction of the character’s death was dangerous, and could potentially glorify suicide to at-risk audience members—inspiring teens to copy what they had seen play out onscreen. Teenage suicides had already disturbingly spiked nearly 56% over the previous decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control—but in the month after 13 Reasons Why premiered, there was a nearly 29% increase in suicide among Americans between the age of 10 and 17, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Though the 2019 study did not prove causation, the correlation was alarming enough for Netflix and the producers of 13 Reasons Why—who had previously stood by their decision to depict Hannah’s suicide—to finally edit the scene out of the series, two years after it had premiered.
At the time, National Institute of Mental Health scientist Lisa Horowitz warned content creators that “young people are particularly vulnerable to the media.” She added, “All disciplines, including the media, need to take good care to be constructive and thoughtful about topics that intersect with public health crises.”
So when Netflix teamed up with filmmaker Brett Haley (I’ll See You in My Dreams, The Hero) and screenwriter Liz Hannah (The Post) to adapt All the Bright Places—Jennifer Niven’s 2015 young adult novel, which grapples with teenage depression and suicide—for the screen, the streaming service did so with extreme caution.
“You must enter these projects thoughtfully and with care and with a vision for what you’re saying,” Haley told Vanity Fair Wednesday afternoon, explaining that Netflix provided a network of mental health professionals with whom to consult at each stage of production. “We ran the script by them and talked to them in pre-production about what kind of message we were putting forth. We made sure that we weren’t depicting anything in any kind of dangerous capacities that could be triggering. There was a lot of conversation around what this film was about, what it was saying, and how it was saying it.”
[Spoilers ahead for those who have not read the novel.]
The book opens with two high school students, Theodore Finch and Violet Markey, on the ledge of their school’s bell tower, contemplating suicide. He struggles with bipolar disorder. She is grieving the death of her sister. The novel tracks the sweet romance between these two broken teenagers—as Finch helps heal Violet, and he rebuffs her reciprocal attempts. Inspired by a tragic event in the author’s own life, All the Bright Places ends with Finch’s suicide by drowning, and Violet’s struggle to rebuild her life after.
When adapting the story for the screen, Haley said that he and Hannah consciously decided to blur the lines around the circumstances of Finch’s death—leaving it more open to audience interpretation. In the film, Violet (Elle Fanning) returns to the same lake where she and Finch (Justice Smith) spent a sunny afternoon, finds his discarded clothes and personal effects, and determines his death without seeing a body. Finch is mourned by family and friends, but the specifics of his death are purposefully left vague.
“We purposefully did that because we don’t feel that [Finch’s death] was as simple as, ‘Well, he committed suicide. He was depressed and he wanted to die,’” Haley said. “I want it to be a gray area, and I want people to feel like they could have a conversation about mental health after they watch this film and what they think happened with Finch. It isn’t as defined or clear as, say, 13 Reasons Why, if we’re going to compare them. But I don’t think that they’re comparable, personally.” He added, “We have to take into account that sometimes, people harm themselves or others in various states when they’re not meaning to.”