Thomas Clayton

Distilled to its essence, this movie is about untreated alcoholism and addiction, and how this disease rips the familial fabric tying everyone together. Krisha, who abandoned her family for many years, appears at Thanksgiving with little notice. Instead of being received with open arms, Krisha finds her children, in-laws and mother unreceptive and quick to anger. Krisha is made to feel like an unwelcome outsider. Krisha retreats to pills and booze for comfort. It’s obvious this has been a long-standing problem for her, and the cause of her family’s dysfunctional relationship with her. Alcohol gives Krisha her numbing, familiar cocoon but it stands starkly in the way of establishing honesty and openness. Krisha’s disabling alcoholism becomes overt. She is yelled at, humiliated and shunned. In familiar alcoholic form, Krisha’s self-pity takes her over the edge.