Smashed

Kate teaches primary school and drinks heavily with her husband. She throws up in front of her class and tells the children she is pregnant; the lie grows. She starts going to meetings and stops drinking. The problem does not end there: the one habit the marriage rested on is gone and her husband is still drinking. The subject is not addiction but recovery being able to end a relationship. Charlie is not a bad man; he simply does not want to change, and Kate's sobriety opens a new distance between them. The film shows this without blaming anyone. The form is small-scale and calm. House, school, meeting room. The dramatic low point is not where you expect and the film avoids grand scenes of confession. Mary Elizabeth Winstead carries it. She had been known for genre films and the part moved her into another category entirely; the performance was widely discussed on the festival circuit. It screened at Sundance. Aaron Paul plays the husband and Octavia Spencer her sponsor. James Ponsoldt directs. Who it is for: viewers who like small-scale American independent drama. Who it is not for: anyone expecting resolution; the film does not save the relationship and leaves the ending open.