Interested in what A Good Person might suggest about Florence Pugh’s past relationship with its writer and director Zach Braff? You won’t find many bones to gnaw on here. Their personal lives – they were a couple between 2019 and 2022 – are relevant only to the extent that Braff wrote his script with Pugh in mind. And as someone who knows what she’s capable of, he happily lets the film act as her own personal awards reel. You could count on one hand the number of scenes where the actor, playing an opioid addict enmeshed in guilt, isn’t screaming or crying.
A Good Person is also fuelled by Braff’s own emotions – he wrote its script after a period of profound grief, in which he lost his father, sister, and best friend in a short span of time. Yet as unimpeachable as his motivations may be, and as unvarnished as his work may feel, there’s something inescapably scattershot about the finished product. Imagine it as a jar full of thoughts and feelings, but one that’s been tipped over and spilt haphazardly onto the floor. Pugh is excellent, as she always is, ruled by instinct and laced with pain down to her very arteries – but it’s only because she’s so believable that she’s allowed to clamber on top of the mess.
