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MOVIE REVIEW: Unless

Garth Cremona (RIP)

Family drama starring Catherine Keener.  Living an idyllic life in Canada, a Woman her Partner, and their three daughters, have just spent the Christmas period together.  When the eldest girl goes back to college something happens and nineteen days later she is found sitting outside a store on a corner with a blanket.  She is holding a sign that says Goodness.  When the family find her they try everything to break through to her but she sits there, silently, and they can’t find the reason for this sudden change.

What I really loved about this film is that Keener, finally has a role that showcases the talents that she has.  The film depends on her 100% and that doesn’t take anything away from the supporting cast, they are all fantastic, but if you’re a performer looking to showcase your skills then this is the film that you want to have.

The film feels authentic as though we’re peering through a window to see a real family where things have gone almost perfectly for so many years that they haven’t had to deal with the dangers that cross the film.  The other thing that makes this film important is that the film deals with mental health issues in a sympathetic way.  They don’t sugar coat anything and they don’t shy away from the fragility of our own minds.

Through the film the family try to get through to Nora, played subtly by Hannah Gross, and while investigating the reasons behind the breakdown you feel that there is an attempt to channel the thrillers of Hitchcock.  I’m talking Marnie more than Psycho here but there is a definite influence.  The family try to show Nora that they are there for her, and it’s a testament that they never give up on her.  When the strange burns on her hands start to raise health questions about Nora then the film could go a number of ways.  The intellectual way that the script is put together shows the many different ways in which people approach trying to help and comment on mental health breakdowns.

What lets the film down a bit is that there are parts of the story which should have been explored more, and there was room to do it, but there are also parts that should have been left out.  Also the other characters outside of Keener’s are sometimes paper thin pieces floating through the story rather than any development.

Minor problems in what is excellent drama, showing the fragility of the human mind, how families are either torn apart or bonded deeper, and how we shouldn’t give up on people that we love.  While this drama won’t be to everyone’s tastes it still is one of the best of the year, so far, for me.  Keener is often in big budget films with a tighter script and less room for her true talents here there is a freedom given to her that few projects have offered to her.  Some of the scenes do feel like acting exercises that performers do to delve deeper into their characters motivations and with a running time of only 91 minutes you feel they were placed there to pad out the film to a decent running time.  This shouldn’t take anything away from the film.  It’s worth your time and support.  Although I wouldn’t go see this in a cinema, again, unless on a date, I would gladly buy a DVD or BluRay of the film to watch at home.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Director: Alan Gilsenan
Writers: Alan Gilsenan, Carol Shields (novel)
Stars: Catherine Keener, Matt Craven, Hannah Gross & more….. See full cast & crew

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Garth Cremona (RIP)
Comic book creator and movie reviewer. You can find out more at www.dublinwriter.com
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