User reviews

It Just Takes Time A film about grief that takes advantage of its lack of a multimillion-dollar budget to do something rare: portray an unremarkable loss.

This is the story of an "ordinary" grief-harsh and sorrowful, as all grief inevitably is-but also something that simply happens. Loss happens, and then it happens again, and then more and more often... until, eventually, it happens less.

And here, the focus isn't on an extraordinary loss but on unremarkable people experiencing it. Dull, uninspiring, everyday people-who, paradoxically (or maybe because of this), become the film's greatest strength.

Especially Joel's character-the one who shaves his head while listening to a compilation of "inspirational" quotes. The kind of thing that, the more you think about it, shifts from funny to slightly tragic.

And then there's the wannabe YouTuber churning out the most generic "how to get a million followers" advice imaginable, spouting clichés like his own version of an inspirational quote reel... except no one watches his videos. Because they're not interesting. And that's the point.

When we watch grief in films, it's usually the grief of extraordinary people-or, at the very least, people with extraordinary reactions.

This is the grief of your next-door neighbor.

And not even the most interesting neighbor.

Which is precisely what makes it remarkable-the fact that someone decided to make a film about it.

Another great Joel Haver film. Such a grounded and simple story that doesn't aim to force a message but instead gently invites relatability. Grief, and mental suffering in general, don't have to be represented by some fantastical means. This film does a great job of showing how people, especially "dudes", cope with these things. People often don't know how to stomach life's tribulations - we sort of just sit and let our emotions play with us while we continue our regular lives. The silly small talk and unenthusiastic attempts of these characters to comfort one another is so well done. We think of being there for loved ones as this process that requires mindfulness and passion and research, but at the end of the day the most beautiful part of being there for one another is the effort on its own. I could go on and on about this sweet little beauty of a movie. It might be one of the most "human feeling" films I've ever seen.