Viewers of All the Bright Places have called on Netflix to add a trigger warning to the film after claiming that its trailer doesn’t match the gravity of the sensitive issues depicted.
The new film, which is based on the bestselling novel by Jennifer Niven, explores topics including mental illness and suicide. Netflix’s strapline reads: “Two teens facing personal struggles form a powerful bond as they embark on a cathartic journey chronicling the wonders of Indiana”, with genre tags including “dark, “emotional” and “romantic”.
Elle Fanning and Justice Smith star as teen lovers Violet Markey and Theodore Finch in the 15-certificate movie, which arrived on the streaming platform last Friday (February 28).
A person who watched the film wrote: “All the Bright Places was released yesterday and Netflix hasn’t posted a trigger warning. If you do watch it, it’s not a cheesy love story the trailer makes it seem like, but deals with triggering topics and could be hard to watch.”
all the bright places was released yesterday and netflix haven’t posted a trigger warning. if you do watch it, it’s not a cheesy love story the trailer makes it seem like but deals with triggering topics and could be hard to watch
& read the book, the film doesn’t do it justice.
— maisie (@wiIIiamsonfc) February 29, 2020
Another subscriber wrote online: “Netflix should add a trigger warning bc it’s going to trigger so many people of it doesn’t,” while another said: “Please watch with caution.”
It’s not the first time that Netflix has been berated for similar content. In 2017, the streaming giant was heavily criticised for its illustration of teen suicide scene in 13 Reasons Why; a controversial scene it eventually had to edit.
All the Bright Places director Brett Haley told Vanity Fair last month that Netflix supplied consultations with mental health professionals 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,” he said. “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.”
NME has contacted Netflix representatives for comment.
