Every human life has a unique texture, shaped by that person’s experiences, personality and place in the world. Evoking “human life” is especially pertinent when talking about “Suncoast,” the semi-autobiographical dramedy from writer-director Laura Chinn. The movie is based on Chinn’s own adolescence — it’s dedicated to her brother Max, who died in 2005 while Chinn was still in high school. Premature death is widely understood to be a tragedy, but there’s a wrinkle to Chinn’s story that gives it a bizarre specificity: Shortly before his death, he was placed in the same hospice as Terri Schaivo.
For those who need a refresher (or weren’t old enough in 2005 to really be aware of the news), Terri Schaivo was the Florida woman at the center of a 15-year struggle between her husband — who said that Terri had asked him to let her die if she ever fell into a persistent vegetative state, which she did — and her parents, who fought to keep her alive although there was little chance that she would ever recover.
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