“Jamie Marks is Dead” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, January 24, 2014. The film was directed by Carter Smith, and starred Cameron Monaghan, Noah Silver, Morgan Saylor, Judy Greer, Madisen Beaty, and Liv Tyler.

  The film, while a well thought out concept in light of recent suicides due to bullying, was utterly flawed. The story begins with a teenage boy, Jamie Marks, played by Noah Silver, being found dead by a classmate on a riverbank. The classmate that finds him, Gracie, played by Morgan Saylor, becomes obsessed with Jamie, and finds solace in a fellow classmate, Adam, played by Cameron Monaghan. Seemingly, Adam and Gracie are the only living people that can see or talk to Jamie, which gives Jamie the go ahead to pursue a strangely intimate relationship with them.

  As the story progresses, Adam’s mother, played by Liv Tyler becomes paralyzed (dont worry, that’s not a spoiler), and subsequently becomes close friends with the woman, played by Judy Greer, that caused her paralyses. Meanwhile Adam’s brother spends the majority of the film being as rude as possible while being obsessed with his car. Adam finds that he no longer feels comfortable at home, and begins to pursue a relationship with Gracie.

  As the romance between Adam and Gracie intensifies, Jamie becomes more and more like a jealous girlfriend to Adam. He asks Adam to whisper words into his ears, asking him at one point to whisper random words into his mouth, giving the audience a generally weirded out feeling. He introduces Adam to other ghosts, one of whom may be either from a much earlier time period or a modern hipster (her dialect is hard to discern when or where, or when, she was from is obscure at best).

  The film had many moments that made one wonder if Jamie was in love with Adam, but the question was never answered in the film. “It is a film about finding friendship and love, and just becoming close to the people around you,” said director Carter Smith in a Q and A following the premiere.

  The relationship between the mother and her friend also seemed a little questionable, but when asked about it, the director said that he did not intend for that type of relationship to come across, and that he was surprised when focus groups pointed it out to him.

  The audience seemed to come to the same conclusion, as one patron said, “It was like watching Harry Potter and Ron Weasley nearly kiss for two hours.” The film had its creepy moments, and some moments of slight hilarity, but overall, it is a movie that can be easily overlooked.