Manchester by the Sea

I have not seen a single Oscar nominated best picture this year. Wait a minute, let me finish, it was by CHOICE! I didn’t care about La La Land because I couldn’t sit through the last musical I saw (it was Anna Kendrick’s Last five years). I didn’t want to watch Moonlight because I thought it was too heavy for me. However, the one that I am writing about skipped my notice and so, I had to go back and check it out. I loved this movie for two particular reasons. One - The most stirring moments in the movie did not feel acted at all. They were riveting despite being awkward. They were so pure because they were as awkward as they would be in real life. Two - The story is held together by a beautiful thread of one’s own imagination. The movie is deliberately shot in wide lens to let you fill in the finer details the way you want. What does the word beat it mean? The film is an attempt to help us understand that life gives us second chances. Through the characters in the movie, we feel and heal. The actors have done a terrific job of playing their broken, hurting and healing selves. A man burdened by the guilt of murdering his own children. A man who is trying to save his brother at least in death. A woman trapped by her own sins. A young boy left to face consequences he is not prepared for. The movie starts with the characters looking so normal in absurd situations that you think they are okay. It is only when you realize how much they have internalized their pain, you realize how bad things are. You weep with them and when you see each character having its own escape, you slowly let yourself heal. Be it a young boy making love to the girl he loves. Or be it someone saying sorry for some unforgivable things said in the past. The movie does not even hint on a happy ending. But you just know that things will be alright. You feel like you have lived with these characters for so long that you know they are going to be okay. You want them to be okay. You want them to forgive themselves. I loved this movie from the very beginning. Hope you will love it too!