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For many people, movies can bring great sources of comfort at the right moment. Whether it’s a romantic comedy to mend a broken heart, a thriller to get the adrenaline pumping, or an action movie to forget about the real world, movies can do a great deal of healing. Movies about grief aren’t nearly as popular as other genres, but they have a lot of heart, and most likely a touching message in the end. Stepmom, starring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon, is a great film about new roles in the family, and the heartbreaking loss of a mother who is not ready to say goodbye to her kids. Although it has some comedy aspects to it, and a romance featuring a pretty large age-gap, Stepmom is a story about dealing with grief and loss. Movies centering around grief and someone dying usually have an upbeat plot throughout the film, wanting audiences to be almost distracted from the main point of the story and to deflect about what’s really happening.
Children’s movies such as Up focus on grief in a way that even a child can understand. The first ten minutes of the film showcase the loss of a baby, and then the loss of Ellie, the wife of our main character, Carl. AbelKeogh states that the use of grief and overcoming the loss of a loved one in this movie is great and important, showcasing Carl through stages of his mourning and how Russel helps him overcome it. For children, and even adults who are going through a loss and might not be expecting this sort of message in a movie intended for a younger audience, it could bring unexpected understanding and acceptance as they watch the film.
Movies about grief also tend to bring the family home; the trope of family members bonding over loss and rehashing the good old days as they all crowd into their family home, is something that can be very nostalgic and comforting to viewers. Viewers feel understood and accepted as they watch siblings fight and then the next scene cuts to them all having breakfast together because they need to be around each other in a time like this; the need for community and love outweighing anything else. Movies about grief are needed and important, and this article will explain why.
Families Coming Together
In the 2014 film, This Is Where I Leave You, adapted from the 2009 novel of the same name and written by Jonathan Topper, is a great film about love and loss. Four adult siblings Judd (Jason Bateman), Paul (Corey Stoll), Wendy (Tina Fey) and Philip (Adam Driver) come home after years of being apart after their father dies. Upon arrival, the siblings are surprised to find out that their father’s last dying wish was for all of them to sit Shiva together, a Jewish tradition to honor the deceased. They’ve all gone their own ways for years, not communicating or sharing about their lives, so throughout the film, while all members are processing the loss of the head of the family, they once again become close and reform that bond they all once had.
This Is Where I Leave You is important because of how mundane some of the plot line is; the film jumping from scene-to-scene, rapidly introducing the viewers to so many characters, painting a picture that at one point, this family was tightly-knit. In a review by NPR, this film is described as ordinary, which in a film about grief, is almost comforting. The four siblings and the actors who portray them work wonderfully with each other, with love and sibling hatred showing throughout many of the scenes. Such as when Philip, the baby of the family, brings his girlfriend, who was once his therapist, to sit Shiva with them. The viewer is included in the inside jokes, the hushed conversations between brother and sister, and the heartbreaking scenes where characters wish they had more time. This movie is full of laughs, gaudy moments with Jane Fonda, and also each character getting the closure they need as they process the death of their father.
Grief Through the Holidays
Following the theme of families coming home, and also four siblings, The Family Stone is almost an undercover movie about grief. Diane Keaton plays Sybil Stone, the mother of the family, and is a true star in this film, representing how much strife and sadness has taken over her character with the returning diagnosis of her breast cancer, and having to keep a secret from her kids as to not ruin the holiday atmosphere. Her eldest son, Everett, brings his uptight girlfriend home to his very liberal and easy-going family, and things seem to spiral out of control the moment the two walk through the door. It’s a warm movie that will make viewers laugh at the swap of love interests in such a short period of time, as well as cry at the sight of the children each learning of their mother’s diagnosis.
Viewers who are experiencing pain with the thoughts of losing a loved one, or have already gone through it, could view this movie and relate to the characters as they each find out and each go through the stages of knowing. All the siblings are informed on Christmas Day that their mother is fighting the battle once again, but even before that, they seem to know that something is going on, with each child having their moment of realization, but choosing not to say anything outright in order to not make it real. In the end, Sybil passes away, and the family is shown a year later, gathered around the Christmas tree and remembering her for the great mother and wife she was.
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