The terminal stage of matriarch Helen Mirren's cancer brings her squabbling four children together around her hospital bed, where they try to both come to terms with their impending bereavement and mend bridges between each other. Yes, it's a family drama about a serious matter, and its star actors (including Timothy Spall doing one of his trademark curmudgeonly turns as Mirren's husband in a state of denial) manage to inject enough pathos into the scenes to make it work in that sense. But the first-time director Winslet also wants to have herself a piece of the feelgood Christmas movie/Richard Curtis cake, so sugary icing is always lurking in the background too. Thus it was no surprise that it was released exactly in time for Christmas.
5/10
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