Irreplaceable You
Director: Stephanie Laing
Writer: Bess Wohl
Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michiel Huisman, Christopher Walken, Brian Tyree Henry, Steve Coogan, Kate McKinnon, Jacki Weaver, Timothy Simons, Merritt Wever
Seen on: 24.3.2020

Content Note: cancer (death)

Plot:
Sam (Michiel Huisman) and Abbie (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) have been a couple since they were children and now that Abbie is pregnant, its time to get married. But when Abbie’s pregnancy turns out to be cancer and not a baby, their life is turned upside down. As Abbie has to confront the very real possibility that she will die, all she wants is to make sure that Sam will be okay after her death.

Irreplaceable You is just the right thing if you want to look at beautiful people while having a good cry. It certainly made me bawl, in a nice, cathartic way.

I saw that that this film stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Michiel Huisman and I really didn’t need anymore to want to watch it. That’s why I didn’t read any plot synopsis and was very glad when the film basically opens with the fact that Abbie will be dead by the end – giving me time to prepare me for that.

It also meant that I was honestly surprised by the cameos and supporting cast that is damn fantastic – starting with Merrit Wever (who unfortunately only got one scene) to Christopher Walken, Steve Coogan, Kate McKinnon and Jacki Weaver. But as wonderful as that supporting cast is, they have nothing on Mbatha-Raw and Huisman who gave me everything I needed from them as a romantic pairing.

Sam and Abbie are a lovely couple and, at least for somebody who has not been confronted with a situation like this herself, I thought their grief and how they deal with the situation is realistically handled, although it does come with a good portion of romantic cheese as well. But hey, that’s what you watch those kinds of films for, right?

In any case, Irreplaceable You is a romantic and sad film, but one that does not leave you without a sense of optimism and the feeling that things can be okay again, even if tragedy strikes. And that’s good to hear sometimes.

Summarizing: if you want to have good cry, go for it.