THE REST OF US – Directed by Aisling Chin-Yee – (limited spoilers) ⁓

Rachel, Talulah, and Aster

It all begins with the death of a cat named Boots. After sustaining unspecified injuries, Boots is put down. Cami (Heather Graham) and Aster (Sophie Nélisse) decide to phone Craig, who is Aster’s dad and Cami’s ex, because he was so fond of the cat. They learn from Rachel (Jodi Balfour) — Craig’s second wife for whom he left Cami some years ago — that Craig had a heart attack and drowned in the tub. Soon Cami and Aster are attending a wake for Aster’s departed dad, and the unfortunate cat is never mentioned again. Inga Cardranel makes a brief appearance as the only guest at Craig’s wake that Aster is given express permission to kick. (Aster declines.)

Rachel and her shredded wheat

The thing about Craig is that, despite the fact that everybody should actively dislike the guy, he seems universally liked (sometimes to the point of obsession) by all that knew him. (This is based on a limited sampling of his acquaintences. We only meet his two daughters, Talulah and Aster, and his two wives, Cami and Rachel, and we only get to view these characters in the afterglow of Craig’s death.)

One of the most telling lines in the film comes from Aster who, after learning how her father died, says: “I didn’t even know he took baths.”

Aster and her boyfriend Nathan (Charlie Gilespie) with the unfortunate Boots at the vet

Food is quite effectively used to illustrate the characters. Rachel punishes herself by eating dry shredded wheat. Cami makes lasagna to use as an overture to Rachel. Either Aster or Cami (the two characters are quite easy to confuse because they are so similar and were likely portrayed that way on purpose) uses icing to split a four-letter word between two breakfast tarts.

Talulah orders the most incongruous combination of ice cream flavours she can imagine: a cone with scoops of bubblegum, strawberry, and mint chocolate chip.

This is a lovely story of two families joining together against all odds to overcome adversity, and all the characters are charming and likeable, but in the end these four leave little to pique the imagination. Their lives seem nice and settled and ordinary. One ends up thinking instead about who this Craig person was, and just how his demise (both physical and financial) managed to have such positive results. One wonders: was it a result of natural evolution, or of intelligent design?

Talulah (Abigail Pniowsky)

Director Aisling Chin-Yee told Danielle Solzman of Solzy At The Movies: “The relationship with this man, Craig, the husband/ex-husband/father—he’s a catalyst for this new family to be created. He’s nothing more than that, essentially. He’s not the reason behind the story. The story is these women coming together and being able to reconcile the way that they feel about themselves, about him, and about the other woman or the other sister.” One can view the story that way, but none of it would have taken place without the intervention of the mysterious Craig, about whom we learn very little.