At the death of his brother, Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is supposed to become the tutor of his nephew until his majority. An event that forces him to confront the drama that he himself lived a few years before.

Kenneth Lonergan here signs a poignant and never tearful film. There are five reasons for not missing it.

  • For the performances of Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams

Two of the best actors of their generation who were on the screen dreamed about it, Kenneth Lonergan did. Ben Affleck's little brother had already made a name for himself in The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford , and in "Gone Baby Gone".

Here he is Lee, a broken man who only survives his pain. In front of him, Michelle Williams embodies his ex-wife, Randy. As always, the actress is impeccably accurate and juggles emotions with flying colors.

michelle williams manchester by the sea
LuMarPhoto / AFF / ABACA

  • To see a film about mourning that avoids pathos

The film captures a heartbreaking subject - mourning in different forms - but succeeds the feat of not sinking into the pathos. If one of the heroes remains walled up in suffering, the other chooses life. Impossible not to identify with the characters.

  • For the intoxicating soundtrack

Besides casting, storytelling, licked realization and icy landscapes, it is also the soundtrack of "Manchester by the Sea" that carries the viewer. Canadian composer Lesley Barber was able to transcribe the intensity of the film with delicate and powerful pianos and violins at the same time.

  • To see a family fresco

We like to let ourselves be embarked by a story that takes place over several years, and where we can follow the emotional evolution and identity of the characters. As in Richard Linklater's Boyhood, where a boy was seen to grow from his 6th to his 18th birthday, "Manchester by the Sea" films the years spent in a family, with dramas, regrets and not-said which explode.

movie manchester by the sea
© Universal Pictures

  • For the revelation of Lucas Hedges

The cast is definitely zero defect ... If the heroes have faces well known to the general public, there is one that most discover for the first time. However, Lucas Hedges, 19, has already toured with the greatest directors in "Grand Budapest Hotel" by Wes Anderson, or "Zero Theorem" by Terry Gilliam.

He plays the young Patrick, who tries to mourn his father while leading his adolescent life as normally as possible. His play, of great finesse, promises an exciting filmography.