Based on 6 votes and 3 reviews.
A thought provoking take on an all too real subject .
wrestles with important issues, very human, unexpected humour
What's the memory? What's happening at the moment? How do conversations overlap like they do in our minds sometimes? Miriam Toews has written a novel that's loosely based on the suicides of her father and sister, ten years apart. The novel is funny in spite of the grim material. It's not relentless, even though it's pretty stark in places. The film uses the novel as the backbone for the screenplay. It's about a world we know nothing about. A wholly original world, filled with suffering and pain but also with beauty, light and love that takes the viewer on an emotional journey. The fact that it's a true story gives the film much more poignancy. What makes the story unique is that the film examines the idea of suicide being a viable option for someone seemingly healthy and having so much to live for. The film explores how the past and the present could be seamlessly interwoven to inform and propel the narrative, and how the conversation each of us has in our head, while timelines are ever-shifting, could be portrayed on screen. The idea that we're present in a conversation, but still thinking about past events, and how that could be portrayed in the film is something the film wants to capture. It’s a shifting of perspective that doesn’t confuse or take the viewer out of the film. As a result, the story feels much more sensory. Written by Gregory Mann