Departures (AKA Then Came You)

That man, Asa Butterfield, is back again after we recently saw him Slaughterhouse Rulez. This time he’s alongside Maisie Williams (“Early Man“, “Game Of Thrones (TV)”) in Departures, aka Then Came You.

It’s a comedy, drama from writer Fergal Rock (“Fair City (TV)”, “On Our Way (Short)”) and director Peter Hutchings (“The Outcasts”, “Rhymes With Bananas”).

Calvin (Butterfield) is a hypochondriac working with his dad, David Koechner (“CHiPS“, “Krampus”), and brother Tyler Hoechlin (“Fifty Shades Freed”, “Stratton“), at an airport handling the baggage.

Calvin’s hypochondria leads him to a cancer support group, despite not having cancer, and it is here that he meets the eccentric and bold Skye (Williams), who does have cancer, and she instantly latches onto him, whether he likes it or not.

Skye has a death list, kinda like a bucket list, but odder. It contains things like ‘punch someone in the face’ or ‘get arrested’, none of the usual ‘swim with dolphins’ for Skye.

As their friendship grows, Calvin struggles to tell Skye he doesn’t actually have cancer and he also struggles to tell airline steward Izzy, Nina Dobrev (“The Vampire Diaries (TV)”, “The Perks Of Being A Wallflower”), whom he takes a shine to, and the feeling appears mutual.

As the pair work their way through Skye’s death list, they form a bond and the lines become blurred as to who is helping who in the friendship.

Departures is a nice film, the sort you’d stumble upon late one night and sit and watch. It has some great turns from the likes of Ken Jeong (“Crazy Rich Asians“, “The Hangover”) as a policeman and Tituss Burgess (“30 Rock”, UK viewers will perhaps know him as the man from the Lenor Unstoppables advert) as Izzy’s cabin crew friend.

Both Butterfield and Williams perform admirably, the latter is on point as the wild Skye, putting on a front in the face of the inevitable. Butterfield has these awkward, struggling with life roles down to a fine art now and it’s no different here.

There are some aspects of Departures that will leave you rolling your eyes, they are a touch to cliched for my liking. Calvin struggling to tell people he doesn’t have cancer for instance, then there’s the dancing. The music throughout Departures is good but why they added a dancing montage I’ll never know.

There’s plenty of laughs throughout, kind, sweet laughs, and a lot of emotion, particularly towards the end, despite the fact you know what’s coming and how it will end, it still gets you.

The directing is nice and clean and the film feels tight, not overly long or too short. There are some really nice moments and nice touches. Sure, there are bits that feel familiar and others that feel a bit cliché, but this is a nice, funny, heart-warming and heart breaking film that you don’t need to add to a list, other than a watch list.

Kim Jeong and Briana Venskus in Departures