Just like this review, it’s the kind of film that could (and should) include a trigger warning. Stuck in the middle of the sisters’ battles is their beleaguered mother, Lottie ( Mare Winningham), who put walls up around her emotions after the death of her husband.Īs you can likely surmise, All My Puny Sorrowsdeals with some heavy and highly delicate topics. But upon her arrival, Yoli is shocked to find Elf seems resigned to death and even expresses a desire to journey to Switzerland where assisted suicide is legal. Her sister, Elf ( Sarah Gadon) is an acclaimed concert pianist, though she grapples with mental health issues like her father, Jake ( Donal Logue), who died by suicide years prior.Īfter Elf attempts suicide for a second time, Yoli returns to her hometown in an attempt to save her sister from the same fate as her father.
Struggling writer Yoli ( Alison Pill) is in the midst of the collapse of her marriage and the challenges that arise from raising her daughter, Nora ( Amybeth McNulty). The film focuses on two deeply connected sisters who have long since left behind their strict Mennonite upbringing in rural Ontario. But McGowan deploys a terrific ensemble cast to bring these moments to life and therein lies this film’s true success. Scenes play like stilted tableaux vivants that don’t quite organically flow into each other. It’s almost akin to experiencing a book reading where you often feel at a distance from the subject matter being narrated to you. However, it does cause the film to languish in extended monologues that rarely feel like authentic dialogue seen on screen. Writer-director Michael McGowan‘s adaptation of Miriam Toews’ semi-autobiographical 2014 novel All My Puny Sorrows falls into the former in a film that feels more literary than cinematic.įor fans of Toews’ award-winning book, that may not necessarily be a bad thing. Stray too far from what came before and you’re likely to frustrate those expecting a faithful interpretation. Stick too closely to the source material and you run the risk of presenting something that feels like little more than a narration of the text. Trigger warning: this review discusses topics including suicide, depression, and self-harm.īook adaptations are a tricky beast to conquer.
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