Director: Stephanie Laing
Rating: 3/5
The new Netflix’s release is very interesting and I can’t say I did not enjoy watching it. However, I can’t say I enjoyed it either. Essentially, I am not sure what I think but one thing is certain. I do not feel anything after watching the film, and this is the problem for a film with this topic.
The film reminded me too much of ‘P.S. I love You’ but since this film is not like ‘PS I Love You’ I just could not help myself but constantly thinking and comparing two films. There is an apparent difference however. In ‘PS I Love You’ it is the guy who dies and he leaves letters to his wife Holly (Hilary Swank) to help her cope with the loss because he knows she will be lost without him. In this film, it is Abbie (Gugu Mbatha Raw) who is dying, and the film presents a story of her plight to organise her boyfriend’s life and find him someone so that he does not end up with the wrong person once she’s gone.
The film is nicely made, lots of scenes are made outside and the production quality is good. Gugu is impeccable as always, and she is slowly turning into one of my favourite actresses. I liked the story and I liked the focus on variety of ways that people use to cope with terminal illness and inevitable death. This has been done really well and is the best part of the film.
However, I just couldn’t connect with Abby and feel any emotions. I did not even feel sad when we heard the letter at the end of the film or when we saw stickers in the science books. These stickers again reminded me of letters in ‘PS I Love You’. Thus, film fails in the most crucial aspect of this story; instigating emotional reaction. With all funny elements, ‘PS I Love You’ still managed that.
I would not discourage anyone to watch this film though, because it is worth watching if for nothing else then for the scenes made outside, which are really nice. In addition, it is worth watching an impeccable Gugu. However, I think you will enjoy it more if you haven’t seen ‘PS I Love You’ before.
Thank you for reading.