From ‘No Time to Die’ to 5 films about grief

It has been two months since No Time to Die, the twenty-fifth instalment in the James Bond series, was released. The film features several stunning locations, including some of my personal favourites — Italy (Matera), the Caribbean (Jamaica), Norway, the Faroe Islands, and London. As much as I enjoyed following the fictional British MI6 agent on his globe-trotting adventures (SPOILER ALERT), I was taken aback by the ending, in which Bond dies. A few weeks later, I attended the Leeds International Film Festival, held from 3 to 18 November. Interestingly, five of the six films I watched — chosen either by myself or my friend Jini — explored themes of grief.

Drive My Car

Drive My Car was probably my favourite among all the films about grief that I watched. This three-hour Japanese masterpiece, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, is based on the short story of the same name by Haruki Murakami from his 2014 collection Men Without Women. Selected as Japan’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards, it went on to win the award, along with international acclaim. The story follows Yūsuke Kafuku, a middle-aged actor and theatre director who, still mourning the death of his wife, travels to Hiroshima to stage a multilingual production of Uncle Vanya. There, he forms an unlikely bond with Misaki, the quiet young woman assigned to be his chauffeur, while also confronting painful truths about his late wife and her lover. Thoughtful, introspective, and beautifully paced, Drive My Car is a profound meditation on loss, connection, and the power of art to heal.

The Hand of God

The Hand of God (È stata la mano di Dio) is the latest film by Paolo Sorrentino, the acclaimed Italian filmmaker whose 2013 masterpiece The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Like its predecessor, this film has been selected as Italy’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards and became available on Netflix on 15 December. Set in 1980s Naples, it tells the coming-of-age story of Fabietto, a shy teenager whose life is marked by both wonder and heartbreak when a sudden family tragedy shatters his world. Blending personal memory with Sorrentino’s signature visual style, The Hand of God is a deeply moving, semi-autobiographical reflection on loss, fate, and the power of cinema to make sense of grief.

Hope

Hope (Håp) is a Norwegian film directed by Maria Sødahl, selected as Norway’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. Inspired by the director’s own experience of facing a life-threatening illness, the film tells the story of Anja, a middle-aged mother of six whose world is turned upside down when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer just before Christmas. As she confronts her mortality, Anja is forced to re-evaluate her strained relationship with her long-term partner and the fragile balance of family life. Both intimate and deeply humane, Hope is a quiet yet powerful exploration of love, vulnerability, and the will to live.

Petite Maman

Petite Maman is the latest film by Céline Sciamma, the acclaimed French filmmaker behind the stunning Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Although beautifully crafted, I did not find Petite Maman as captivating as her previous work. This gentle, 70-minute film follows an eight-year-old girl named Nelly, who is grieving the loss of her beloved grandmother. While helping her parents clear out her mother’s childhood home, Nelly ventures into the nearby woods, where she meets another girl her own age. As the two grow close, Nelly slowly realises that her new friend is, in fact, a younger version of her mother. Poetic and quietly moving, Petite Maman is a delicate meditation on memory, childhood, and the timeless bond between mothers and daughters.

Queen of Glory

Queen of Glory is an American independent film that tells the story of Sarah, a young Ghanaian-American woman whose life takes an unexpected turn when her mother suddenly passes away. In the wake of her loss, Sarah inherits her family’s small Christian bookstore in the Bronx, forcing her to reconnect with her roots and community while reevaluating her own identity and future. Both heartfelt and humorous, the film offers a tender exploration of grief, cultural heritage, and belonging.

Between Two Worlds

The last film I watched was not one about grief. Between Two Worlds (Ouistreham) is a French social drama set in the port city of Caen, in northern France. It stars Juliette Binoche as Marianne, a well-known author who goes undercover to work as a cleaner in order to gather material for her next book about precarious employment. As she experiences the harsh realities faced by those living on the margins, she forms genuine bonds with her co-workers, blurring the line between empathy and exploitation.

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