I saved the best for last. Living (2022) is by far the best new release I’ve seen in the last decade. It’s a remake of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s heart-breaking classic Ikiru (1956) and set in 1950s London (Ikiru (1956)). With brilliant direction by Oliver Hermanus, an astounding script by Kazuo Ishiguro and an Oscar-worthy performance by Bill Nighy, Living is one of the few movies that lives up to the original.
Bill Nighy plays Mr. Williams, a stodgy civil servant who is all about propriety and routine. He’s a widower who lives with his son and daughter-in-law and simply goes through the motions of life. In fact, he is so set in his routine that his coworkers can predict his every move.
When he learns that he has terminal cancer and has very little time left, he does something completely out-of-the-ordinary for him. He doesn’t show up at work. Instead he decides that he’s going to enjoy his final days. Mr. Williams is now enjoying every moment, allowing himself to have fun, meet new people and really connect with others and his surroundings. And he’s not about to shuffle off his mortal coil before making a significant impact on his community.
If you want to have a good cathartic cry, then Living is the movie for you. I can’t say enough good things about this movie. I first watched it when it premiered at Sundance and was blown away by the message, the story, the visuals and Bill Nighy’s powerful performance. It really instilled in me a new appreciation for life and what it means to actually live. In my original review I wrote: “It’s brilliant, heartbreaking and soul-reviving. It breathed new life into me.”
If there is one last movie I can recommend to you, let it be this one.
