Fans of Kate Winslet have long wanted, perhaps expected, her to take a step behind the camera. Perhaps a cozy holiday family dramedy like Goodbye June isn’t what they were expecting that directorial debut to be, but then I would point out that she did star in The Holiday, so there’s some precedent for lightweight Christmas fare. And I would say that Winslet chose wisely with a film that puts most of the burden on Winslet, who also stars alongside a star-studded cast of actor friends more than capable of carrying it over the finish line.
Goodbye June is penned by Joe Anders, Winslet’s son with ex-husband Sam Mendes. I won’t throw around accusations of nepotism because surely other critics will, or already have, filled that role, as if any of it matters. Helen Mirren plays the titular June, whose cancer has progressed to the point that she likely won’t survive until Christmas. Hospitalized, likely for the last time, she becomes the focal point to reunite her messy clan, each with their own defining personality trait or issue that causes them to dislike someone else. There’s ultra-sensitive son Connor (Johnny Flynn), who found June passed out on the kitchen floor and instigated this little reunion. Winslet plays Julia, a stressed-out professional whose success has taken away from her ability to be a present mother to her three kids. She’s got a prickly relationship with middle daughter, Molly, played by Andrea Riseborough. Molly seems to have children coming out of the woodwork, and doesn’t get a lot of help from her husband (Stephen Merchant). Molly’s thing is that she’s really nuts about having her kids eat organic, which the children obviously think is gross. And then there’s Toni Collette as the flighty, crunchy new age birth counselor Helen, who feels like a character pulled from a completely different kind of comedy.
There’s also Timothy Spall as June’s crazy old husband, Bernie, who would rather eat and drink through this tragedy rather than confront it directly. I separate him from the pack only because Bernie is the model for most of the thinly-drawn characters in Goodbye June. His act, which basically finds him acting like he’s on another plane of reality most of the time, would be insufferable if Spall wasn’t such a damn great actor, capable of revealing complexities that aren’t there in the screenplay. The same goes for Winslet, Riseborough, Flynn, and Collette, who bring more life to their one-note siblings than is written on the page. Also, special notice to Fisayo Akinade as June’s saintly nurse, who observes this privileged family’s petty conflicts and has the patience to sit and watch The Great British Bake Off at his patient’s bedside.
What works best about Goodbye June, other than its performances, is that it never feels too heavy, as many movies about death often do. Winslet and Anders keep the tone light, focusing on the little moments of levity that make life worth living even under such trying circumstances. The sentimentality is baked in, the grievances are minor, but there’s something therapeutic in realizing that a shared loss can be what makes a family whole again. Goodbye June is a warm blanket of a movie. You might only drape yourself in it once, but it’s comforting when needed.
Goodbye June is in select theaters on December 12th, and streams to Netflix beginning Christmas Eve.
