Rob Reiner's Stand by Me is about memory. It’s about the ways in which the people who matter do keep standing by us, even after they’ve fallen away.
I felt drawn to Stand by Me in a way I had never been drawn to a movie before, longing each day to reimmerse myself in this soft-focused sun-dappled boy’s idyll. But still I wonder: what parts of me did this movie speak to?
In examining the enduring power of childhood friendships, and questioning the usefulness and accuracy of our adult memories, both It and Stand By Me force us to reconcile the hopefulness and potential of childhood with the often stark reality of grown-up life.