Written and directed by Kellen Gibbs, a young girl struggles to get back home when she starts inexplicably waking up as a different person everyday. Starring: Jordan Knapp, Arthur Roberts, Brandon Knabe, Richard Neil, Anna Telfer, Zachary Ray Sherman, Charity Rose and Tessa Espinola.
Having a young girl learning to grapple with her emotions see things through other people’s perspectives, quite literally, is a great twist on the coming of age genre. Quickly getting to see the bigger picture and encounter sincere struggles than her own battle with anger. Harper, firstly played by Charity Rose, is a strong, independent and formidable young woman. We don’t learn too much about her as the film dives in headfirst to her body jumping, but each new layer shows her vulnerability, youth and kindness.
As the story moves forward, it adds a lot of different characters and some have more to add than others. The most highlighted and effective portrayals and plot come from Arthur Roberts and Julia Parker’s long married couple, arriving later in the film and giving Harper time to reflect on her experience. As well as Zachary Ray Sherman, Mason Marcus Burrell and Bianca Lemaire, their arc brings through a lot of sweetness. It’s a slight shame the progression didn’t slow itself down, to allow these focused moments to take the lead, as they make a bigger impression than some of those intended as highly dramatic or intense.
That’s a key issue with the film as a whole, the jumping around does serve a purpose but at the same time, it doesn’t feel as though the plot is deepening, it’s relatively simple. The atmosphere and tone are hitting a nicely emotional note but it doesn’t quite reach a satisfying resolution or dig deeper. What that means is it becomes a series of random events rather than a bigger journey. It’s also slightly murky ground to be telling this story through the perspective of such a young girl, it makes the sexual references uncomfortable. On top of the idea of placing a pre-teen’s mind inside a full grown man’s body approaches inappropriate territory and is a leap that really didn’t need to be taken, or could have been handled more gracefully at times.
Tomorrow has a great concept and a good level of emotion but the journey feels unfinished. There’s a big mix of characters but those who get the most screen time are also the most memorable. It’s a strong cast at work, each of them add an impressive consistency to Harper’s character, which is not easy when it’s being passed through so many different actors. Its weakest moments are when it strays from the wholesome, family friendly feel, sticking to topics appropriate for its pre-teen character would have been preferable. It starts off well but ultimately feels like it didn’t have the time to satisfyingly resolve itself, making some risky choices with its ending that don’t necessarily pay off.
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