Good Life (film)

Good Life is a 2023 animated dystopian coming-of-age drama film written, co-produced and directed by Adam Campbell-Sing. The film, which explores themes of humanity, mental health, xenophobia, communism, emotional abuse, and social segregation, is set in a parallel universe, where intense political division has caused the United States to divide into two countries - the federal "East America" to the east, with Washington, D.C. as the capital, and one-party socialist "West America" to the west, with Los Angeles, California as the capital. The film's plot tells the story of West America's oppressive regime through the eyes of Blue (voiced by Edan Hayhurst) - a young, withdrawn orphan boy - and Georgia (Thomasin McKenzie) - an emotionally traumatised teenage daughter of a military commandant (Michael Shannon) and a housewife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) - who bond over their respective issues in life, including the physical and emotional abuse they had both endured growing up. The film also features the voices of Tony Revolori, Samantha Barks, Lewis Pullman and Albert Brooks. It is a British, French, Australian and American venture co-produced by Wild Bunch, Village Roadshow Pictures, Film4 Productions and Sing’s Talkdog Productions. Animation services were provided by Australian visual effects company Animal Logic.

Sing conceived Good Life in 2020, during the development process of previous film, AstroNuts. Inspiration for the project came from events from Sing's personal life, as well as various political events throughout history. Production officially began in December 2021, and McKenzie and Shannon were both attached to star in February 2022, while the remaining cast members had signed on by that July. One unique feature of the film is its lack of stylistic unity; characters were animated through stop-motion animation, with backgrounds either filmed in live-action or created through computer animation. Like AstroNuts, Good Life received a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association, due to its mature and thematic content.

Good Life had its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 24 May 2023, where it received a standing ovation; Sing won the festival's Best Director award. Following further screenings at the Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival, the film was released in France on 29 September 2023, in the United Kingdom on 9 October 2023, in the United States on 20 October 2023 by Warner Bros. Pictures, and in Australia on 3 November 2023, and was a commercial success, grossing $310.5 million worldwide on a £1.1 million budget. The film received near-unanimous acclaim from critics, who praised Sing's direction and screenplay, as well as the animation, visuals, themes, musical score, emotional weight, realism, and vocal performances (particularly McKenzie's), with many critics ranking it as the best film of 2023.

Considered by many as one of the greatest animated films of all time and one of the best films of the 21st century, Good Life was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2023, and won numerous accolades, among them a leading five awards at the 96th Academy Awards, including Best Picture (the first animated film in history to do so), Best Original Screenplay, Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects. It also won for Best Animated Feature Film at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, and a leading eight awards at the 77th British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Direction, Outstanding British Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Animated Film, Best Original Music, and Best Visual Effects. For her performance, McKenzie won a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA award, among several other nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Synopsis
Set in Los Angeles, California, which has become the capital city of America's west coast, which has become an independent socialist federation, Good Life is the heartbreaking story of 17-year old Georgia, the only child of Detroit and Houma — a military colonel and a housewife, and Blue, an orphaned young boy struggling to find his place in the world. When the east coast plans an missile strike on L.A., and Georgia's parents teeter on the edge of divorce, Blue witnesses the government's oppressive regime unfold, as Georgia is forced to decide between friendship and family as her parents try to keep their heads above water.

Voice Cast

 * Edan Hayhurst as Blue, an orphaned boy from a rural desert village who ends up in Los Angeles, and becomes friends with Georgia.
 * Thomasin McKenzie as Georgia, the sweet-natured yet emotionally unstable 17-year-old daughter of Detroit and Houma, who takes care of and becomes Blue's friend.
 * Michael Shannon as Detroit, Georgia's father and Houma's husband, a high-ranking UNC (short for United National Congress) commandant.
 * Jennifer Jason Leigh as Houma, Georgia's mother and Detroit's husband.
 * Tony Revolori
 * Samantha Barks
 * Lewis Pullman
 * Albert Brooks

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