Starfish

This is one of those movies that might satisfy you but is hardly "entertainment". A fit thirty-something man becomes ill and almost dies. The price he and his family pay for survival is extreme.

A true story of ordinary people who go through an ongoing and extraordinary situation. Performances are no-frills yet convincing.

I enjoyed the movie because it was really well acted and well written, but it was very sad to watch. Any kind of illness can totally permeate a person's life. Illnesses and diseases are serious situations that are beyond man's choices or non-choices. The movie did not provide the quick fix that some movies have. Very enjoyable movie, but very sad.

I've come across this film by chance, on a Sunday afternoon, looking for something to unwind with. Very difficult to watch , very 'deep' but absolutely brilliant and truly inspirational

The make-up in this movie is a marvel. Tom Riley (also playing a guy called Tom Ray, Natch) sure looks like he's got a disfigured face and four missing limbs. Poor fellow.

He contracts sepsis after eating some out-of-date sausages which cause his immune system to overreact (yes I did my homework after the movie was over) and, upon returning home, immediately starts taking out his anger on his family. Not their fault, dude.

This, as you can well imagine, creates a rift... and Starfish is at it's best when it shows the breakdown of this once happy brood. His wife is no longer physically attracted to him, his young daughter no longer recognises him and his newborn son... well, he's just a baby. He doesn't get a vote.

The film also shows Tom's struggle to adapt physically to having four new prosthetics to deal with, and the actor's movement is almost enough to convince you he has them under his clothes. Less persuasive is others reaction to his new appearance and gait... in the hard world we live in now, I think he'd get a bit worse treatment than one boy staring at him in a newsagent.

If nothing else, we're reminded of the salient fact that life can change in an instant and we should make the most out of every second. Starfish isn't a great movie, but it educates and entertains and won't leave your head anytime soon. 6/10

Starfish was a well-meaning film that wanted to raise awareness about sepsis and show the personal struggles a young family would experience after one member suffers a live changing illness. It clearly had an eye on being a Theory of Everything-esque style film. But the results were more like a Lifetime film because the film's focus was only on the familial struggles, the low-budget, and some incredibly sappy moments. What elevated Starfish was its lead actors, especially Joanne Froggatt's performance which felt real.