Miss You, Love You

A woman who has lost her husband has to arrange the funeral. She has not spoken to her son for years and he does not come; he sends his assistant instead. She is hard, direct and gives nobody an easy time. The young man across from her is a stranger and, on top of that, comes from her son's world. The two have to do everything the funeral requires together: choose a coffin, write a speech, telephone the guests. In the course of it, things long unsaid come out. Jim Rash directs. Allison Janney and Andrew Rannells take the leads; the cast also includes Bonnie Hunt, Suzy Nakamura and Oscar Nuñez. Jim Rash is better known as an actor and is an award winning screenwriter in American cinema. The form is black humour; grief is the subject and the register keeps sliding toward comedy. The relation the narrative builds is not family but proxy; the young man takes the son's place and after a while she accepts it. The character played by Allison Janney is written not to be likeable, and the film does not hold to that all the way. It dates from 2026 and was made on an independent scale. Who it is for: viewers who like black comedy built on grief and two hander acting work. Who it is not for: the structure is predictable, the emotional resolution is ready made, and the subject is close to home for some.