I have to be careful while talking about Continue because of the subject matters it deals with. Nadine Crocker’s drama (where she also plays the lead) attempts to look at depression and suicide from a realistic perspective. While that’s admirable, there’s a profound lack of cinematic flair here. The acting is just about okay, but the dialogue is generic, and the editing also lets the film down. That said, this movie can still work for people who’re in need of help, and there lies its success. There’s not much complexity in Continue, but the ending scene might leave you in the lurch. We’re gonna sort that out in this article.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens in the Movie?
After having a severe, life-threatening breakdown, Dean ends up at a rehabilitation facility. Her first meeting with Janet, the doctor appointed at the facility, doesn’t go that well. However, Dean does find a friend in Bria, a recovering addict. Their friendship grows fast, and a lot of it is trauma bonding (which is alright, by the way). Soon, Taryn joins the group and completes the trio. Dean’s struggle with depression continues, and the suicidal thoughts keep haunting her, but the presence of Bria and Taryn makes life a little bearable. Eventually, Dean manages to convince Janet to let her leave the facility, on the condition she seeks help from the doctor when it’s needed. Dean leaves with the promise of regularly checking up on Bria.
Does Dean Get Into A Relationship With Trenton?
At the beginning of this story, Dean had zero hope. But with that gradually improving, a potential romance seems to be fitting for the narrative. In fact, the introduction of Trenton’s character actually added some life to the proceedings. Dean and Trenton have a chance meeting, but it’s not quite a meetcute. At her new job waitressing at a bar, Dean gets harassed by a douchebag customer. She gives it back to him, but this random gentleman at the scene also decides to punch the guy. Since this is not a fair world, both of them are thrown out of the bar. But then, they sort of hit it off. He is a musician who’s not quite getting it right these days. Dean also happens to be a songwriter. When they end up at Trenton’s place that night, things heat up quite naturally. But Trenton doesn’t sleep with Dean. He makes it clear that he doesn’t want to do that right away and ruin everything. He would rather get to her properly. Soon, they’re comfortable enough to share their deepest secrets. That’s when we find out that Dean’s mother od-ed when she was five years old. Her father never recovered from that, and years later, he blew his own head off. Dean was the one who found him in a pool of blood. Considering all this, Dean’s lifelong battle with depression only makes sense.
Trenton’s life story, though not as heartbreaking as Dean’s, is no good either. When his father died, his mom remarried. The stepdad turned out to be an abuser, but Trenton’s mom never left the man. This led to Trenton severing all ties with her. That was years ago. She now has cancer and is trying to reach out to Trenton, but he’s skeptical about going down that road again. What he’s absolutely not hesitant about is starting a relationship with Dean, especially now that he knows her and is confident about being able to handle her. The topic of properly handling a person with depression gets a lot of importance in Continue, which only proves Crocker genuinely cares about the issue. That’s a given considering she herself attempted suicide when she was 23, and Continue is inspired by her own life story.
Does Dean reconcile with Bennett?
One of the most crucial aspects of Continue has to be the relationship between Dean and her elder sister Bennett. Like Dean, Bennett also suffers from depression and lives on antidepressants. Of course, she’s doing better than Dean, and at the start of the film, it’s just too much for her to take care of her sister. In fact, she’s quite mad at Dean for not being able to hold it together. However, Bennett does come back to Dean’s life later in the film, and she feels genuinely guilty about being a bad sister. Dean consoles her, and the two of them make up. Upon hearing Bennett’s wish to have a baby, Dean decides to move to San Francisco, where Bennett lives.
Does Dean Die?
If you think about it, it’s way too convenient that everything just falls into place for Dean. Bria and Taryn get out of the rehabilitation center, her relationship with Trenton grows healthier, and Bennett also gets back to her life, which completes the perfect friends and family circle. However, things do get disrupted when Taryn suffers an episode and ends up taking her own life. What’s even worse is Dean having an episode of her own after coming across her ex, Jackson. This is the same guy we see at the beginning of the film, who rescued Dean and took her to the hospital. In fact, Jackson is the reason Dean is alive, but he’s scarred for life thanks to what he went through during the course of the relationship. Jackson is in no mood to forgive Dean, and he’s not convinced that she has changed for good. As a result of this encounter, Dean pretty much takes it out on Trenton and horribly insults him, asking him to leave her life. But Trenton proves to be the kind of rock she always needed in life. He also has no problem moving to San Francisco for Dean. Bria, who’s also become an integral part of Dean’s life, decides to move. Trenton proposing to Dean in the presence of Bria and Bennett, both overjoyed, is a bit too much of a perfect outcome, but I guess that’s the whole point of this movie. Nadine Crocker has mentioned that the reason she’s making this film is because she actually wants to help people. However, if that’s true, then she probably should have had second thoughts about the unnecessarily confusing ending. We didn’t need to go fast-backward to the very first scene of Dean having the breakdown and having a moment of clarity where she’s able to see “what life could be” if she gives herself a chance. In case you’re wondering, Dean does survive, and everything you see in Continue is absolutely real. The ending of it is just the director trying to play with something. It’s another matter that she really shouldn’t have.
