Apple TVIn an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
Gibson’s diagnosis came in 2021, and despite a rapid hysterectomy, was followed by recurrences and metastasis that we watch them battle over the course of the film. The film’s construction is as intimate as it gets, following Gibson into doctor’s appointments, curling up with them and Falley in bed, and eating meals soundtracked by the laughter of close friends. White’s style is not fly-on-the-wall observant, but seat-at-the-table active.
Their heart-forward film, directed by Ryan White, sits with plenty of pain in what the couple know will be some of their last months together: doctor visits and chemotherapy, tears and the overwhelming grief of knowing your loved ones will go on without you. The couple live in three-week increments – the time between blood tests that can quantify the spread of Gibson’s cancer and the success, or diminishing returns, of different treatments to keep it in check. A high score: shock, processing, a bruise blooming in real time. A low score: utter joy.
