Un berceau sans bébé

My wife and I were fortunate enough to attend the Return to Zero world premier last night (March 8, 2014) and we connected with the film so strongly that I wanted to recommend it to everyone.

We lost our twins, Marshall and Spencer, ten months ago on May 2 of 2013. They were born perfectly healthy at 22 weeks 3 days, but they just weren't ready for life outside of the womb. They each lived for only an hour. When we left the hospital without our boys we came home to a life that was forever changed. We held each other, cried, and began the process of searching for answers and one of the places we looked was to Hollywood. As we spent days on the couch we wanted to watch a movie that depicted what we were going through. Fictional or not, we wanted to actually see someone else make it out of the hell we were in and more importantly, we wanted to know how they did it. We read synopsis after synopsis and could not find ONE movie that told the whole story of losing an unborn child—not premature birth, miscarriage, or still birth. However, we discovered that one was in the works and it was called, Return to Zero.

Fast forward 8 months and it just so happened that the world premier was right in our backyard. And coincidentally, today is the day that last year we found out our twins were boys. So, this was a special weekend for us. We had the opportunity to watch the movie with the writer and director, Sean Hanish, producer Paul Joconi-Biery, and Sean's wife, Kiley. We then even got to have dinner and hang out with them and some other great people who have shared our same experience. What a great night.

The movie was incredible. It's a true story about a happy couple who were pregnant with their first child when just before their due date, they learned that their baby had died. What's unique about Return to Zero is that you follow Maggie, played by Minnie Driver, and Aaron, played by Paul Adelstein, as they go through the entire process a devastating journey previously reserved for only those who have suffered a loss themselves. The writer and director, Sean, got every single little detail right—every emotion, every shared look in the delivery room, interactions with family, dumb comments made by people, and even the humor that's part of the healing process. Yeah, when we're grieving, we still laugh.

When Aaron and Maggie leave the hospital they begin the healing process, which we quickly learn doesn't exactly happen in a straight line. We follow them through a handful of, ah, how should I say this not so helpful coping strategies. Since the trailer hasn't even been released for the film yet, I don't want to say too much, but since the website synopsis says it, I think I'm safe to say—they do end up getting pregnant again and I'm sure you can imagine the anxiety that they must have after going through their previous loss.

Minne Driver and Paul Adelstein were spot on with their portrayals of Aaron and Maggie. They are 100% believable as a couple, and as grieving parents of a lost child. Their raw emotion had my wife and me feeling like we were reliving our own tragedy up on the screen, which surprisingly, was comforting. The supporting cast gave equally awesome performances. To name a few, you've got Alfred Molina, Connie Nielsen who you might remember as the wife of Maximus in Gladiator, and Emmy award winner Kathy Baker.

All around, this is a wonderful movie that needed to be made. Unless people have gone through a similar situation themselves, I don't think that they really understand what parents go through when they lose an unborn child. For anyone who has a lost child of their own and feels alone and misunderstood, Return to Zero will show you that others have experienced exactly what you have, and they made it through. If you haven't lost a child, but know someone who has, this movie may help you understand what we go through and that it's OK to talk to us while we grieve, and more likely than not, welcomed. And for those who have gone through a loss and find yourselves with a family member or friend that just doesn't get it, as someone suggested last night, just tell them, "Don't talk to me until after you've watched Return to Zero."

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Go see this movie.

This was heartbreaking and super well done for a made-for-TV movie. It's a true story following a happy couple who are pregnant with their first child when just before their due date, they learn that the baby has died and will be stillborn.

Return To Zero follows that couple through the devastating grief that follows. The pain expressed here is palpable, raw, and so well shown in its many forms (denial, anger, alcohol abuse) We also get a look at how family and friends don't always know the right things to say.

In a last ditch effort to save their marriage (and ignore the Holiday season) our couple take a trip to Vegas which leaves them facing the terrifying prospect of another pregnancy. There's an excellent extended cast here too along with Minnie Driver who is absolutely fantastic as Maggie. 6/18/14

Christy - I am a mother of a stillborn child, having lost my son 12 years ago. I can honestly say in all my years of my own experience and helping TONS of other parents, I have NEVER heard of taking the stillborn child home for a night! Wow! It was brutally hard to leave the hospital without my son, but I think it would've been 1000x harder to try and take him home. I may be wrong, if this loss has taught me anything it's that you really can't say for sure about anything unless you've lived it, but I just can't fathom it. In a bereaved parent's shoes, I will say I don't find it morbid. Before my loss I probably would have, but you see it differently when you love that child with a mom's heart. I do know hospitals try and give you as much of a "normal" experience as possible. They will bathe, dress, swaddle, take pics, etc. It really is healing in an odd way. But taking them home? I can't imagine.

I finally feel validated!! This deeply personal movie was needed! You see, my husband I lost our daughter at 41 weeks. It was a healthy, uneventful, normal pregnancy! One day all was fine, the next day I went into labor and all was lost! When you hear the words "there is no cardiac activity", all the world comes to a standstill. Nothing is as it used to be. Normal is gone, a new normal is beginning. It starts with giving birth to a lifeless, beautiful, healthy looking, but oh so lifeless child, and "ends" with living every day with the truth of having birthed this beautiful girl. Missing her in every way! Being "just fine" for hours, then days, weeks, and months, only to feel overwhelmed by this grief again, this sadness, anger, all stages of grief! This movie validates and puts words to my thoughts, my emotions, and those of my husband! We were lucky enough to donate to this movie, so we could see our gorgeous daughter's name in the credits. I cried the entire movie. This truly did happen to me! Yes it did, almost 11 years ago. And though it has been so very long, this pain is still raw at times. This story needed to be told! Thank you, Sean Hanish for giving us a voice. Us as parents, us as a community, and our babies. Thank you Minnie Driver, Paul Adelstein, and all you wonderful actors for the extremely true to life portrayals! Thank you, from the bottoms of our hearts!

Don't get me wrong it hits all the made for TV sappy points. It's appropriately condescending to men as all pregnant women movies are supposed to be. The dialog is little too snappy repartee though. But not a bad effort. We've seen this a thousand times. Check all the boxes, men bad women good. But mostly it's a movie about pregnant women and babies for women who don't have kids and likely never will. Why? Because it doesn't really work this way. Sorry but no. In the real world the doctors want to walk away from this sort of thing asap. And in the real world it doesn't split up couples any more than any other medical shock. People without kids think it does but it does not.