‘But I do want to be sober. I’m alive and I’m present and there’s nothing controlling me…’
Spending time with extended family can either be wonderful or incredibly emotionally draining depending on several different factors. Weddings feed into this strange mixture of emotional connection and rising anxiety in a unique way. Rachel Getting Married examines this uneasy dichotomy through the prism of addiction and sisterhood…
As the title suggests, Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) is indeed getting married. Rather than Rachel, however, the film focuses on Kym (Anne Hathaway) – Rachel’s chaotic and troubled younger sister. We begin with Kym leaving rehab and arriving at her family home in time for the nuptials and the film then takes us on a journey across the night before and the day of the wedding. Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme almost shoots Rachel Getting Married as a home video, with handheld cameras moving between rooms as various musicians practice for the big day (the conceit being that Rachel’s father Paul (Bill Irwin) is a record company executive).
Fans of plot and action will not enjoy this movie. Nothing really happens in some ways but then all human life is here in this film. It’s an astonishing performance from Hathaway. Abrasive, vulnerable, damaged. She channels both fury and intense sadness in a way that is difficult to watch sometimes but always honest. Always raw. She was deservedly Oscar-nominated for the performance. Jenny Lumet’s script allows Kym to be selfish and often obnoxious, something that is often denied to female protagonists and the film is all the more compelling for it.
Rachel Getting Married uses a unique storytelling technique to tentatively approach some of life’s most difficult topics. Namely grief. Without giving too much away, Kym’s backstory and spiral into abuse is particularly harrowing but it is always handled with care.
As with many family weddings, this film is a panic attack and a warm hug all rolled into one.
