What you are… is what you leave behind.
A fatally ill mother with only two months to live creates a list of things she wants to do before she dies without telling her family of her illness.
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Character
Contemporary, spare, earnest and grave.
- contemporarynostalgic
- sparerichly built
- earnestironic
- gravecomic
- contemplativerelentless
Who loves it, who doesn't
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Where do you stand?
Answer first; then see how everyone, and your circle, split.
“Does the smallness hold it back?”
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“Is Sarah Polley the best thing in My Life Without Me?”
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“Would a little humor have helped?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- badelfon TMDB · Sep 20237/10
As a narrative, it's a bit weak. But on other levels, this film is fascinating. The cast, especially Sarah Polley, does a bang up job. Every character real and believable - even the kids. First and foremost, the film is a strong advocate for "viva la vida" (Frida Kahlo before Cold Play!). There is an old Buddhist parable about a man running from a tiger and suddenly faced with a cliff. In one direction, the tiger; in the other, the cliff. He looks down and sees a branch growing out of the rock. Somehow, he casts himself down and grabs that branch. The tiger looks over the edge at him. He doesn't think either he or the branch can hold on too long. Then he spies a wild strawberry near the branch. He grabs it and eats it. It is the very best strawberry he ever ate in his soon-to-be-over life. And so it is with our protagonist. Having the harshness of mortality shoved in her face at a young age, she begins to live each day with full attention. Something humans hardly ever practice. Second, the interesting, but perhaps unrealistic, decision to withhold her diagnosis and prognosis from everyone, creates an entirely unexpected space. She takes her cue from Dr. Thompson (Julian Richings),
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Cast
- Sarah PolleyAnn
- Amanda PlummerLaurie
- Scott SpeedmanDon
- Mark RuffaloLee
- Leonor WatlingNeighbor Ann
- Debbie HarryAnn's Mother
- Maria de MedeirosHairdresser
- Julian RichingsDr. Thompson
- Jessica AmleePenny
- Kenya Jo KennedyPatsy
Crew
- Isabel CoixetDirector
- Isabel CoixetWriter
- Jean-Claude LarrieuDirector of Photography
- Alfonso VilallongaOriginal Music Composer
- Lisa RobisonEditor
- Gordon McLennanProducer
- Esther GarcíaProducer
Where to watch
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Restless 201182% alikeBoth contemporary, spare, grave.
Levity 200381% alikeBoth contemporary, spare, contemplative.
Winter Boy 202281% alikeBoth contemporary, earnest, grave.
Phoebe in Wonderland 200881% alikeBoth contemporary, spare, earnest.
The Beaver 201180% alikeBoth contemporary, spare, earnest.
September 198780% alikeBoth spare, contemporary, grave.
Death of a Superhero 201179% alikeBoth contemporary, spare, grave.
Elegy 200879% alikeBoth contemporary, spare, grave.
Scenes from a Marriage 202181% alikeTelevision · Both spare, contemporary, grave.
Normal People 202078% alikeTelevision · Both contemporary, earnest, grave.
Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Tastebuds
