Category Archives: Lending Insight

Gleefully, Jessica Mitford exposes the funeral industry in The American Way of Death Revisited, a smart, biting work of book-length reportage. First published in 1963, she updated the text in 1996 shortly before her death, leaving readers with a final … Continue reading →

“Field of Dreams,” the sports fantasy film directed by Phil Alden Robinson, might not be explicitly about death — but it certainly presents an inspiring perspective on it.  As the film opens we meet Ray, a struggling farmer played by … Continue reading →

The 2025 film, “Come See Me In The Good Light,” follows poet/activist Andrea Gibson (whose pronouns are “they/them”) and their partner Megan Falley as they navigate the time Gibson had left after receiving a diagnosis of terminal ovarian cancer. 

“Demolition”, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, is a quirky dramedy that explores the complex landscape of grief, sudden loss, and emotional reconstruction. The film follows Davis Mitchell, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, a successful investment banker whose life is destroyed when he … Continue reading →

In the 2016 film “A Monster Calls,” directed by J. A. Bayona, a 12-year-old child, Conor O’Malley, portrayed by Lewis MacDougall, endures a complicated and heartwrenching journey through his mother’s terminal illness. Based on Patrick Ness’s novel of the same … Continue reading →

In Robert Redford’s 1980 directorial debut, a wealthy family deals with coping with loss as they struggle with the death of the oldest son, Buck Jarrett. “Ordinary People” explores how grief can affect people differently, as well as how losing … Continue reading →