The Rest of Us: Film Review

If you’re looking for a lovely way to spend 80 minutes, then I might suggest The Rest of Us, a female-led comedy-drama.

The Rest of Us stars Heather Graham as Cami, who invites her ex-husband’s new wife Rachel (Jodi Balfour) and her daughter Talulah (Abigail Pniowsky) to come live with her and her teenage daughter Aster (Sophie Nelisse) after his untimely death leaves them homeless.

The concept was really interesting and I enjoyed watching the character dynamics evolve throughout the film. Most people wouldn’t offer their ex-husband’s new wife a place to stay, especially if she was the one who broke up their marriage in the first place. I liked seeing how they went from being frosty in the beginning to reaching a place of understanding. Although Cami and Rachel formed the central relationship and the main focus of the story, there were other interesting dynamics between the foursome, such as Cami’s difficult relationship with the headstrong and angsty Aster, Cami’s nurturing, motherly relationship with Talulah, and Aster and Rachel’s unexpected bond.

It’s very rare that I say a film should be longer but certain moments should have been fleshed out a bit. The script is very good and I enjoyed a lot of the dialogue, but I wanted to know more. How did she find this out? Why did she do that? Why is Aster so mean to her mum? I would have liked to have known the motivations behind the words/actions in certain moments and how they affected the other person. The parts were acted very well, but I wanted more depth from the characters as I didn’t feel like I knew who they really were.

The Rest of Us is available to rent/buy now on iTunes, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Sky Store, and Virgin Media