©Courtesy of Netflix
Directed by Kate Winslet and starring Helen Mirren in the title role, Goodbye June began streaming on Netflix on Christmas Eve, twelve days after its theatrical release at select cinemas in the United States and the United States. It is a remarkable film that is surely destined to become a classic of the holiday season for its sensitive portrayal of a grief-stricken family witnessing the dying of its matriarch.
Though June is practically immobile and confined to a hospital bed for the duration, she remains a steadfast and commanding presence till her dying breath, a tribute to the stellar acting abilities of its lead character. Though Mirren had earlier said she would never play a character who was dying or infirm, she made an exception here based on the strength of the screenplay.
Goodbye June is somewhat of a family affair behind the scenes. The script was written by Winslet’s son Joe Anders, who penned it at the age of nineteen for a screenwriting course he was taking. It was based on his memories of his grandmother, who had recently died of ovarian cancer. In addition to directing this astonishing movie, Kate Winslet also opted to play the role of Julia, one of the four siblings who are ultimately reconciled to their mother’s dying—and each other—during Joan’s hospitalization.
©Courtesy of Netflix
Reflecting on the screenplay, Winslet was quoted as saying, “I am no stranger to reading things that my son has written, because he’s always written. I’m very familiar with his capacity as a writer, but it’s a completely different thing to know how to formulate a screenplay with a real structure and real characters that have to jump off that page and live and breathe and become something that is a narrative that pulls people in. And he had done it. What he had done that struck me most of all was that he had somehow been unafraid to explore the different, very complicated themes of family.”
In addition to Mirren and Winslet, the cast of Goodbye June includes Timothy Spall as Bernie, June’s hard-drinking and cantankerous (though lovable) husband, and Johnny Flynn as their son Connor. Toni Collette and Andrea Riseborough appear as their other two daughters, Helen and Molly. Also turning in a radiant performance is Fisayo Akinade as Nurse Angel, whose quiet, compassionate presence goes a long way in offering support to the family.
From the start, Winslet resolved to create an intimate environment that would allow her cast to express their vulnerability, as by hiding much of the sound recording equipment. Instead of relying on large, intrusive boom microphones, she had each actor fitted with a microphone. But even without these technical niceties, Goodbye June is a powerful film that is surely destined to become one of the most appealing Christmas movies ever made.
©Courtesy of Netflix
“Goodbye June” is quick to reveal the explosive family dynamics that have festered beneath the surface for so long, especially those involving the three daughters, who are poles apart in attitude and behavior. Molly is a stay-at-home mom struggling to resolve her conflicts with her workaholic sister Julia, while Helen, their New Agey sister thinks that burning sage from her yoga mat is the answer to all of life’s ills. Still, it is June who remains the family’s anchor, writing a letter to her offspring encouraging them to remain faithful to themselves and each other.
As is often the case when families are suddenly confronted with the imminent loss of a beloved parent and spouse, Bernie and the four children are thrust together into uncharted emotional territory before ultimately receiving the ultimate Christmas gift of reconciliation and new life. “Some of our most complicated relationships in life are with the people we love the most in the world, the people we are closest to, the people we need the most for support and care,” Winslet has said. “The power of a good goodbye is to remember to love each other in the present.”
But it is Bernie, June’s semi-lucid husband, who moves us most, as when he shuffles off to a pub during her final days, where he sings a heartfelt song to his dying wife in a tribute guaranteed to get your tears flowing. Predictably, June passes away on Christmas Day as her children and grandchildren costume themselves to perform a Nativity pageant in her honor, another indicator of the deep spirituality that gives life to this remarkable and heartwarming movie.
©Courtesy of Netflix
Rating: A+
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Here’s the trailer of the film.