Movie Review: Good Grief Is A Netflix Classic
My friends have always been the great loves of my life, and this film is a love letter to the importance and complexity of adult friendship. It’s an exploration of how relationships evolve as our lives expand; as our hearts swell, break, and repair. – Dan Levy
Remember P.S. I Love You of Eat, Pray, Love, or the general 90s/00s movies where within 90 minutes a character grieves, revives, and rediscovers who they are is actually fun. I miss that. Sometimes, I feel like movies have a giant void when it comes to being genuinely entertaining, which is why streaming, especially in terms of series, has become so culturally poignant: they entertain. Written, directed, and starring Daniel Levy, Good Grief brings me back to that sweet, entertainment era that did not mind getting sad as much a blissfully happy.
When Marc’s husband, Oliver (Luke Evans), dies, his friends Sophie (Ruth Negga) and Thomas (Himesh Patel) sweep him to Paris and face some really harsh, existential truths. For Levy, who plays Marc, the film was inspired by the loss of his grandmother, which he began to grieve during the pandemic. The world shutting down forced him to shut down, as well, and analyze what it is to lose a whole life with someone; to know the chapter you wrote with them is over, but the book of your life continues. Even writing that, I can feel the hints of sadness in that reality.
I think what I loved about Good Grief is the same as the movies previously mentioned; it feels simply complex. When you lose a partner, it can feel like you lose a part of you and it is true! Your were someone you liked with them, and, when they leave, you can feel not only depressed but oddly dislikable. I did notice that aspect of those prior classics until I saw Good Grief and with humor and a few tears, it display that the feeling of loss is obviously synonymous with no fun. Time just passes as Marc stays in bed, wonders, and just walks through his days as if his life is just waiting to be done too. Hence, his friends sweet, desperate supportiveness and a clearly “we are all watching Emily In Paris energy” feels both heartwarming and cinematically exciting. Honestly, what friends do most of us have that are just like, “You sad? Shall we Paris?”
Naturally, no trip based on healing grief comes without fights and reflections. What I really appreciated about the film, in terms of grief, is that it reminds us each person plays multiple roles in life. Oliver was Marc’s husband and their friend, of which the film holds its flashbacks to show how his larger than life presence really casted over all of them. Himesh Patel and Ruth Negga totally the balance the weirdness of trying to be there for your friend, who clearly has suffered a bigger loss, which acknowledging the waves of pain and inner work ignited by validating you lost, too. All in all, the cast feels perfect in chemistry and flow to make this film feel oddly light about a matter that is not.
As one romance ends another enters, which, again, is SO 2000s rom-com. I love watching classic movies that have no problem making you cry and giggle with a protagonist that, even at their worse, you pull for. Dan Levy provides that with Marc, and his two friends make the film feel cozy, tender, and one to put on repeat.
Good Grief Premieres January 5 on Netflix
