Don’t Make Me Go – Film Review

When single father Max (John Cho) discovers he has a terminal disease, he decides to try and cram all the years of love and support he will miss with his teenage daughter Wally (Mia Isaac) into the time he has left with her. With the promise of long-awaited driving lessons, he convinces Wally to accompany him on a road trip from California to New Orleans for his 20th college reunion, where he secretly hopes to reunite her with her mother who left them long ago.

Hannah Marks‘ Don’t Make Me Go is one of the most surprising films of the year. From the opening few scenes, it seems as though this will be just another, predictable coming-of-age story, as it follows a young, eighteen-year-old girl named Wally who would rather do anything in the world than travel around the country with her father, Max. But, he promises her that if she accompanies him on the trip, he will finally teach her how to drive.

Predictability surprisingly doesn’t ensue, and instead, screenwriter Vera Herbert crafts one of the most unexpectedly great scripts of the year so far. It shows the complications that this father-daughter duo have, mainly in that he is a single father. Wally is also a very impressionable girl who does whatever she feels like doing, even if it may not be the right or safe thing to do. In one crazy scene, Wally notices a group of guys her age are throwing a party, so, naturally curious, she goes over to talk to them.

They then drive out to a farm and drink and watch the stars at night before eventually falling asleep, all while her father is fast asleep in a hotel room elsewhere – a hotel room, that, mind you, Wally is also supposed to be sleeping in. When Max wakes up, you can only imagine the utter shock, horror, and confusion that races through his mind. Don’t Make Me Go excellently delves deep into this in heartfelt and deeply emotional ways.

Max tries to explain to Wally that he won’t be around forever to guide her throughout life, but what he doesn’t tell her is that he means that quite literally, because he has a tumor that will end his life in a year. When this discovery is revealed to the audience, it’s a heartbreaking moment that’s made even more tragic when you realize that this young daughter may never learn about the tumor.

John Cho is absolutely fantastic in the role of Max, who just wants to do what’s best for his daughter. He does whatever he can to ensure that she grows up in a safe world and he teaches her everything he knows in life. Mia Isaac is just as brilliant as Wally, who really feels exactly like a person you may have known in school at some point. Their chemistry is also incredible, and they seriously sell the father-daughter duo dynamic extremely well. Kaya Scodelario is good in the scenes that she is in, but it certainly would’ve been nice had we seen her a bit more often.

Don’t Make Me Go is a remarkably emotional journey of a father-daughter duo travelling cross-country with huge laughs and tears abound. John Cho and Mia Isaac deliver astounding performances with incredibly strong chemistry.