Our Friend

Matthew ( Casey Affleck ) and Nicole Teague ( Dakota Johnson ) are a happy couple, sometimes more, sometimes less. They love their daughters Molly ( Isabella Rice ) and Evie ( Violet McGraw ), they love each other. From time to time there are arguments, mainly because Matt is often away because of his work as a journalist and the family has little of him. But they always manage to pull themselves together and keep going. But then Nicole is diagnosed with cancer. At first, they are in good spirits, convinced that they will get through this together. But when that turns out to be wrong, it’s their mutual friend Dane Faucheux ( Jason Segel) who rushes to their aid. And they can use his help, especially later when it becomes clear that Nicole will not survive this illness…

Our Friend is a bit confusing, especially at the beginning. The film begins with the couple deciding to break the sad news to their children. Before we even know who these two are, what they do, or what their story is, we find out: she will die soon. This is of course a pretty tough start. Many filmmakers would have saved this event for the end and exploited it nicely, after all, the audience should be allowed to cry along. By anticipating the end, the focus shifts. It’s not about the question of whether Nicole will live, there’s no fear and hope here. Instead, we experience the years before in retrospect.

That’s kind of mean because the moments of happiness are always overshadowed by it. It’s not easy to be happy about getting to know each other or the later family scenes. Because the certainty remains: It will end sadly. Stories like this are great for pondering a bit about the meaning of life. The realization of such dramas is usually: Enjoy the moment and make the best of it. You don’t even get to do that at Our Friend because there’s rarely a rest period on offer here. Rather than telling the story chronologically after an early glimpse of the ending, Brad Ingelsby ‘s screenplay ( Out of Play ) continually jumps back and forth on the timeline, here and there.

• Our Friend