Wellness, Nathan Hill

When they met in the 90’s, Jack and Elizabeth were lonely college kids fleeing dysfunctional families. And of course, they fall in love. They lived in Wicker Park, surrounded by artists, all these people cultivating their self-conscious eccentricities.  But Jack didn’t need the postlight – he was quiet, romantic, sort of chivalrous Elizabeth’s story – she grew up with a father who was a demanding tyrant and perfectionist, and she cast herself as a kind of rebellious iconoclast, refusing his wealth, and moving across the country to go it alone. Jack grew up close to his sister who ended up dying accidentally in the fields of their property after a miscommunication between the parents and him, yet he was made to believe that her death was his fault. 20 years later though they now have separate bedrooms. We can see where this is going. Brilliantly blends ideas about the wellness culture, modern parenting, internet algorithms, gentrification, and of course the big one – love. Love – when you see something in someone else and you want it for yourself, or perhaps you see two sides of the same coin in that other person. When in the end, perhaps we are all broken and pathetic and just need someone to love us as much as we may love them? Perhaps... though the journey inward is the ultimate reward.