this movie is just so heavy and it perfectly captures how a divorce still leaves the children feeling so lost and empty even when the parents try to be civil for their sake... it doesn't matter if the stepmother is kind or not because at the end of the day children just want their family to be whole again.
the impact always falls on them first and hearing anna say "no one asked me when you got a divorce. no one asked me if i wanted a new mother. no one even asked me if i liked her. if you guys dont care about keeping our family together, then why should i" when she was only 12 just devastating like it really shows the pain of being ignored in a decision that completely shifts your entire world especially while her mother is literally fighting a terminal illness.. and the conversation where jackie asks her ex-husband why he thinks his new marriage will work when theirs didn't was such a heartbreaking moment too
but then there’s isabel who is honestly trying her best to care for children that aren't hers even though she makes mistakes in how she handles things. you can’t help but feel for her because she gets treated so poorly by her stepchildren even though she has every opportunity to be mean back yet she chooses to stay kind and keep trying to be a good mother to them... it’s such a complicated mess of emotions where everyone is hurting in their own way.
this movie is just so heavy and it perfectly captures how a divorce still leaves the children feeling so lost and empty even when the parents try to be civil for their sake... it doesn't matter if the stepmother is kind or not because at the end of the day children just want their family to be whole again.
the impact always falls on them first and hearing anna say "no one asked me when you got a divorce. no one asked me if i wanted a new mother. no one even asked me if i liked her. if you guys dont care about keeping our family together, then why should i" when she was only 12 just devastating like it really shows the pain of being ignored in a decision that completely shifts your entire world especially while her mother is literally fighting a terminal illness.. and the conversation where jackie asks her ex-husband why he thinks his new marriage will work when theirs didn't was such a heartbreaking moment too
but then there’s isabel who is honestly trying her best to care for children that aren't hers even though she makes mistakes in how she handles things. you can’t help but feel for her because she gets treated so poorly by her stepchildren even though she has every opportunity to be mean back yet she chooses to stay kind and keep trying to be a good mother to them... it’s such a complicated mess of emotions where everyone is hurting in their own way.
