Borian Historing

I finished this film last night and was hoping to find that it was justly appreciated as an incredibly moving and powerful film on loss and grief, and how we do (and don’t) cope with such terrible loss and grief as the death of an infant. I am slightly disappointed. I thought the acting by Shia LaBeouf, Vanessa Kirby and Ellen Burstyn was convincing and authentic — as well as the performances of many others in the film. And I didn’t find any of the Guardian’s ‘frankly inauthentic, silly and jarring plot points’. Conversely, we see how Martha’s loss puts her at odds with her mother’s orthodoxy, sparks a fascination with the fragility of life and the wonder of childbirth and sees her tentatively ponder an apple seed and the life and potential which it holds within itself. This ties into the end of the film where the journey through grief and into greater happiness is symbolised with the return of the apple theme. But you’ll have to watch it yourself!