The Starling

A film about what comes after a loss. Lilly and Jack lost their baby. The girl died in her sleep and no cause was found. Jack could not bear it. He is staying in a care facility and there is a visit once a week. Lilly keeps working. She stocks shelves at a supermarket, her manager tries to be kind to her, and she does not want it. She starts working on the garden. She digs the soil, plants seed, and there is a bird there. A starling is guarding its nest. Every time Lilly goes out it dives at her, strikes her head, and she turns this into a matter. From there the film runs two lines side by side. Jack's treatment on one, the war opened with the bird on the other. There is a doctor as well. Larry used to be a therapist and is now a vet, and Lilly goes to him for the bird and for herself. What the narrative is interested in is not grief but its inequality: the film shows that two people do not carry the same loss at the same speed, and that is where the real crack in the marriage lies. The bird is a comparison and the film does not hide it. An animal guarding its nest and a woman who has lost her child are placed openly side by side. The tone is unsteady. The narrative moves between comedy and drama and some scenes do not carry the weight of the subject. The production was made for Netflix. Melissa McCarthy, Chris O'Dowd, Kevin Kline and Timothy Olyphant are in the cast. Theodore Melfi directed. Who it is for: anyone who wants a softened story of grief and wants to see the dramatic side of Melissa McCarthy. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a film that treats the subject seriously; the narrative keeps escaping into jokes and the ending comes too easily.