✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
United Kingdom · 2022
1h 42m
Director Oliver Hermanus
Starring Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Tom Burke
Genre Drama
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London, 1953. Civil servant William is a cog within the city’s bureaucracy. Buried under paperwork at the office and lonely at home, his life has long felt empty. However, when he receives a shattering medical diagnosis, he is forced to act to try and grasp fulfillment before it goes beyond reach.
The Hollywood Reporter by Angie Han
At the end of Living, I felt not like I’d seen an old favorite in a new light, but like I might want to go back and watch Ikiru again. There are worse outcomes for a remake than reviving affection for the original, or retelling an old story for a new audience that may not have heard it before. There are better ones, too.
The moral of this story is supposed to be shrugged off despite its overwhelming honesty, but Living downplays its drama to such an extent that it can feel as if Hermanus and Ishiguro lacked the nerve to attempt the same trick.
Nighy brings a dignity to the proceedings that you can't help but admire, especially when it comes to Williams' sudden self-awareness in his final days, and that helps keep your attention.
The Playlist by Gregory Ellwood
In the end, it’s a stellar turn from Sharp that dots the I’s and crosses the t’s when the tear ducts begin to flow. And you realize how marvelously constructed the whole endeavor is.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
A gentle, exquisitely sad film.
Living isn’t nearly as subtle as it purports to be, although it can feel that way, considering how much these characters hold back — and this, one supposes, is what audiences want from an Ishiguro script.
The Telegraph by Robbie Collin
It’s a film that could have so easily smacked of an exercise, but its beauty feels thrillingly natural, and its considerable emotional power is honestly earned.
Bill Nighy brings a quiet dignity to the role of Mr Williams, an anchor of buttoned-up solidity in an old-fashioned weepie which captures the lush sentimental swirl of the original while also evoking a distinctive sense of backdrop and period.
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