A linguistics professor and her family find their bonds tested when she is diagnosed with Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease.
It’s the surrounding filmmaking that lets Still Alice down somewhat.
Still Alice is more than a platform for a great performance – the substantial script ensures that this is a credibly angry tale.
Julianne Moore gives the performance of her career (no mean feat, given the strength of her previous work) in this heartbreaking yet life-affirming tale of a woman determined to hold onto her identity while under attack from a debilitating mental disease.
Moore gives a controlled portrait of emotional implosion, bringing quietly heartbreaking nuances to a calm, considered treatment of a life-shattering situation.
It seems a little bland and conventional given its subject matter and Moore’s searing performance.
An absorbing portrait of one woman’s interior landscape.
Verdict: Enthralling tearjerker.
This adaptation would seem average without Julianne Moore.
This is an affecting and thoroughly worthwhile film on a very contemporary topic – with some Larkinian reflections on what will and won’t survive of us.
Still Alice is unbearably sad in places but also strangely life affirming. Don’t forget to take a handkerchief as you will need it.
The subject matter may be tough, and the end-point inevitable, but the message we take away is defiant and ultimately uplifting.
Directed with fierce honesty and focus by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, Still Alice is not fun by any stretch but it’s a powerful and humane work that lingers in the memory. A memory you’ll be grateful to have.
Living with Alzheimer's: What is it really like to be diagnosed with early-onset dementia?
Still Alice director: escaping a religious cult, making porn and celebrating Julianne Moore's Oscar
General release. Check local listings for show times.
RSS feed of Cinema reviews