Eleven months after its Sundance premiere, Manchester by the Sea has opened in limited release. In hindsight, the drama is not just one of the best films from Sundance 2016; it’s one of the best films of the year. This review was originally published on January 25th, 2016.
Secondary drowning is a grim death. Following a near drowning incident, the liquid remaining in the lungs of a victim can trigger the inward extrusion of bodily floods. Hours or even days after escaping the water, the body begins to drown in its own liquids.
Manchester by the Sea, the highly anticipated drama from writer/director Kenneth Lonergan, tells the story of a man experiencing the emotional equivalent of secondary drowning. The film is set up to be every bit as agonizing as that would suggest, but with its cathartic score and Lonergan’s habit of underplaying his most dramatic moments, what could be an excruciating journey has a disarming grace. Received with almost unanimous praise, it has been acquired by Amazon and should appear in theaters sometime this year.
Lee (Casey Affleck) is a loaf by night, janitor by day in Boston, spending his free time fighting in bars and ignoring would-be suitors. The passing of his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) breaks Lee from the cycle, bringing him home to the town of the title, where he’s burdened with unexpected guardianship of his teenage nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges). Lee had escaped a past life in the town which nearly destroyed him; returning to the epicenter of his trauma has fatal potential.