Comedy

Drama

Good Grief

Not A Real Production Company

SISTER

United States of America

English

Dan Levy

Ruth Negga

Himesh Patel

Luke Evans

Celia Imrie

Arnaud Valois

David Bradley

Mehdi Baki

Emma Corrin

Jamael Westman

Kaitlyn Dever

Yoli Fuller

Noé Besin

Cyrielle Debreuil

Nigel Lilley

Gabriel Marc

Zoé Bruneau

Jessica Ronane

Stacey Snider

Jonathan Corn

Sarah Kane

Ole Bratt Birkeland

Rob Simonsen

Julian Day

Vicki Stevenson

Alice Normington

Thalia Ecclestone

Etienne Olchewsky

Caroline Levy

Kate Fenske

Megan Zehmer

Debra Hayward

Jérôme Caron

Emilee Bak

Lucy Cain

Agathe Angeli

Guillaume Fournier

Levan Tserediani

Paddy Eason

Marie-Sylvie Caillierez

Charlyne Liquito

Phil Barrie

Beso Kacharava

Alex Bastin

Ophélie Mirambeau

Hue Lan Van Duc

Daphné Hesnard

Ariadne Bicknell

François Guerin

Christopher S. Aud

Selah Chung

Rebecca Sutton

Antoine Struyf

Charlotte Clark

Nabeel Hussain

Luka Kasrelishvili

Bailey Wright

Pascal Doyen

Lizzie Mair Davies

Joni Amiranashvili

Beqa Turashvili

Mathis Dujardin

Marie Gombeaud-Antoine

Sarah Machal

Niall Monteith-Mann

Michelle Garande

Claire Guichard

Martin Trevis

Zoe Liang

Anne-Caroline Remy

Alexander Sanikidze

Patty Connolly

Margaux Tricot

Bhumika Mayer

Adrien Bertolle

Brent Marchant

Wrapping one’s hands firmly around a heady subject can be quite an undertaking, and rising up to that challenge may take some serious doing. However, without a solid foundation to support such a venture, it’s easy to fall prey to the task exceeding one’s grasp, which, unfortunately, is the case with the debut feature from writer-actor-director Daniel Levy. As the title of this offering suggests, this ambitious production seeks to tackle the subject of overcoming unrelenting sorrow, specifically that of a middle-aged gay Londoner (Levy) who loses his husband (Luke Evans) in a tragic accident, leaving him grief-stricken for an extended time. He has the boundless backing of his best friends (Ruth Negga, Himesh Patel) to help him work through his sadness, but that condition only deepens when unexpected revelations emerge over the course of the next year. So, with no appreciable relief in sight, the trio decides to radically change direction, embarking on a long weekend trip to Paris to heal and to get back into the swing of life. However, it’s a journey that ends up being filled with the emergence of secrets and hard truths for all involved, faintly offset by the prospect of difficult but potential fresh starts. To its credit, this is a film that clearly has its heart in the right place, but it often feels like it’s struggling to say what it earnestly wants to express. The emotions are sincere, and the feelings are palpable, but their execution frequently misses the mark. Their expression often feels incomplete, conveyed through dialogue that plays more like stilted, scripted prose than authentic, natural conversation. That’s regrettable, given the strength of the performances, which genuinely attempt to communicate these emotions, both of the principals and a fine ensemble of supporting players, including Celia Imrie, David Bradley and Arnaud Valois. “Good Grief” feels like one of those projects that should have gone through another round of script revisions before being committed to film, particularly in light of the depth of the subject matter involved here. Grief isn’t easy, and neither is telling stories about it that come across as heartfelt and real. Regrettably, this isn’t one of them.

Marc on Love and Loss

Dan Levy, Ruth Negga, and Himesh Patel React to Scenes from Good Grief

Dan Levy on Writing and Directing Good Grief - First Film

Official Trailer

Best Movies

Good Grief

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Dan Levy

Ruth Negga

Himesh Patel

Luke Evans

Celia Imrie

Arnaud Valois

David Bradley

Mehdi Baki

Emma Corrin

Jamael Westman

Box office

More Like This

The Royal We

Something New

Late for Break Time

Budapest, Closed City

The Favor

Poster Boy

The 10 Year Plan

Kitchen in Paris