Greetings again from the darkness. It’s the films that sneak up on you … those are the ones with staying power. This film from writer-director Kelly O’Sullivan and co-director Alex Thompson (collaborators on GHOSTLIGHT, 2024 and SAINT FRANCES, 2019) packs quite the emotional gut-punch. Plenty of films are centered on grief, yet very few find a path for multiple perspectives like this one.
The story begins as a simple story of two best friends, Minnie and Callie. Not just friends … ‘best friends’, as Minnie (Katherine Mallen Kupferer, GHOSTLIGHT, 2024) makes clear on a couple of occasions. Callie (Chloe Coleman, “Big Little Lies”) is the shining star – popular and talented, while Minnie hangs in her shadow, shy and near non-existent to anyone other than Callie. The last day of their junior year ends with a sleepover, and it’s here where the ‘mean girl’ Cara (Audrey Grace Marshall) is exposed in full envy mode.
The next day everything changes. While Minnie is working her shift at a Chuck E Cheese type establishment, Callie is killed in a car wreck. The devastation is palpable for Minnie and Callie’s mother, Helen (Sophie Okonedo, HOTEL RWANDA, 2004). Both Minnie and Helen struggle without Minnie in their world. Things shift again three months after the funeral. Minnie and Helen begin spending time together. Minnie takes to the void Callie left with a caring mother in a well-off lifestyle, while Helen gets to play a mother role once again. Of course, we know this is not likely headed anywhere good for either, but in the moment, it seems to work. Minnie’s broken relationship with her own mother, Barbara (her real-life mother Tara Mallen, GHOSTLIGHT, 2024) provides a stark contrast to Minnie and Helen’s new bond.
As all this progresses, Minnie meets her first love interest (not counting her quiet crush on Callie) in video clerk Kat (Iman Vellani, THE MARVELS, 2023). It’s further proof that Minnie’s maturity, or trip to adulthood, is happening so much faster than the previous year. At the core of everything is grief. The film explores just how hard a loss can hit and how difficult it is to move on. There are a couple of scenes that stand out as truly exceptional. One is a back and forth between a vet’s clinic where Minnie is assisting her mother with putting down a sick dog, while Helen takes her first steps into a grief support group. The second memorable scene finds the drama teacher (David Hyde Pierce) offering life guidance in a manner that will surely stick with Minnie forever. This is exceptional storytelling and filmmaking.
The acting here is among the best I’ve seen this year. Sophie Okonedo delivers her most powerful performance in years, while Katherine Mallen Kupferer is a rising star. The sleeper here is Tara Mallen, whose character covers a wide spectrum and shares up with a gut-wrenching scene with Ms. Okonedo. The story takes place in 2002 North Little Rock, and that lends itself to the realism and human frailty on display. Life is hard, and excruciating pain and loss can define how folks move forward. Few films have shown this better.
The film expands nationwide in theaters on November 13, 2026
Posted by David Ferguson 
