Celles qui restent

A man dies, leaving behind his wife, ex-wife, and a daughter from each of them. Circumstances force the two women (Heather Graham and Jodi Balfour) and their daughters together, where they sift through their feelings and try to cope with changes in their life. In the case of what was his current family, they're now homeless, and his older daughter is considering dropping out of college.

There's enough here to spend 80 minutes of your time, but I have to say, I was disappointed in how little the film explored the emotions of these characters. There are a couple of moments that felt raw and real, but in aggregate it felt pretty shallow and sugar-coated. I liked the quiet tone of it and the casting choices, but the character motivations didn't ring true. As for the ending, perhaps if the film had been fleshed out and I had been taken on a darker journey along the way I might have gone for it, but as it was, it just seemed too simple and easy.

I didn't think I'd enjoy The Rest of Us but I decided to take a chance on it. I love how the film evolved and how in such a short amount of time (90 minutes) the four characters connected. Several times I reflected on how I would handle a situation like this. I'd like to believe I'd handle it with the same grace as Cami but I don't know.

I just finished watching The Rest of Us (2019). Directed by Aisling Chin-Yee, this Canadian drama stars Heather Graham, Sophie Nélisse, Jodi Balfour, and Abigail Pniowsky. When her ex-husband dies suddenly, Cami (Graham) invites his second wife (Balfour) and daughter (Pniowsky) to stay with her and her teenaged daughter (Nélisse). The four women deal with their grief, while trying to navigate their complicated relationship and history. I was very invested in all four main characters and their journey. The film was well written and I thought all four lead actors did a good job. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who appreciates an intelligent, engaging female driven drama. My rating is an 8/10.

It's extremely refreshing to see a movie that doesn't depend on male characters or male actors. It was very real and really gives you a lot to think about as far as how we as women can dramatically impact each other through our choices. We can also choose to have compassion and choose to forgive -even if it's extremely hard.

A lovely small movie dealing with big life decisions.

The passing of a cheating, dead beat husband (cleverly absent on screen), leaves a pair of mother daughter teams struggling to cope with the aftermath. Unfortunate circumstances lead to an uncomfortable union of two reluctant female families joined at a virtual hip, sifting through various emotional messes. Thankfully "The Rest of Us" is no schmaltzy feel gooder, preferring to plot a realistic storyline in a most complicated situation.

In a career performance, Heather Graham is great as a well to do author, taking in her suddenly struggling successor, disrupting a seemingly utopian oasis. The awkward tension between former wives is balanced by their uppity pre and full teen daughters, who deal with the tragedy from very different angles, and very different ages.

As the unsympathetic mistress turned second wife, Jodi Balfour tackles a difficult role with a careful balance of devastation, guilt and determination. The seedy details of what went down is sketched over, and rightfully so. This movie is all about the present, and who exactly these people really are. It all rides on character discovery.

Filmed economically in a handful of small, closed locations, focussing solely on the four leads, "The Rest of Us" is a quick eighty minutes of exceptional cinema that offers much to think about. Superb.

• hipCRANK