Alongside coming-of-age films and road trip comedies, Sundance is quickly becoming the home of illness dramas, as well. The Fundamentals of Caring (review here) actually managed to combine all three, and was picked up by Netflix for a startling $7M. But the far superior film about coping with disease was one of the festival's opening night offerings, Other People, which featured what I believe to be the finest performance by Molly Shannon in her career.
The first trailer for Other People has arrived and it shows the film's perfect blend of comedy and high drama. Jesse Plemons leads the film as a gay comedy writer, and a struggling one at that, who comes back home to help his family cope with the mother's terminal cancer. Of course, in the process he also comes to grip with his feelings towards her, his sexuality, his career, and more. It's a wonderful movie that I said was "full of eye-opening performances and subtle turns that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure."
Directed by Chris Kelly with Bradley Whitford, June Squibb, Maude Apatow, Zach Woods, J.J. Totah, and Paul Dooley co-starring, Other People opens September 9th, and look out for Shannon as a potential awards sleeper candidate.
