All My Puny Sorrows

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All My Puny Sorrows

R

2021

1h 43m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

72%

Tomatometer

39 Reviews

67%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Based on Miriam Toews' best-selling novel, All My Puny Sorrows unexpectedly infuses wry humor into this heart-wrenching story of two loving sisters: one a gifted pianist (Sarah Gadon) obsessed with ending her life, the other a struggling writer (Alison Pill) who, in wrestling with this decision, makes profound discoveries about herself.

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Critics Consensus

A well-meaning but flawed adaptation of its source material ,All My Puny Sorrows benefits from Alison Pill's searing performance.

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Christy Lemire

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

Alison Pill just tears it up in this. She is funny, raw, and complex.

May 10, 2022

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Guy Lodge

Variety

Where many films would use this as a springboard for a tedious moral treatise on a hot-button issue, “All My Puny Sorrows” keeps the focus commendably and non-judgmentally personal.

May 6, 2022

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Teo Bugbee

New York Times

The ensemble builds believable chemistry as intimate family members, and when their characters deliver their arguments for life or death, the stakes feel appropriately high.

May 3, 2022

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Eric Marchen

Rogers TV

It's better suited to the page than screen as the pain gets passed off in purple prose, which in turn undermines the emotional core.

Rated: C

Dec 10, 2022

Full Review

Asia Frey

Lagniappe (Mobile, AL)

If you are in the right mindset for a serious drama, All My Puny Sorrows is a delicate, beautiful story, a worthy screen adaptation of a book that has challenged and comforted many readers.

Oct 3, 2022

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Valerie Kalfrin

AWFJ.org

The performances are strong all around, especially from Alison Pill as a woman painfully and poignantly trying to convince her sister that life is worthwhile.

Jun 13, 2022

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Joao P

A great movie with a heavy, depressing, story. The images are fantastic.0

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/19/23

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Brian K

While the story, based on the novel by Canadian Miriam Toews, at times has that over-stuffed and awkward sense of book turned into novel, overall the movie succeeds: Based on the lead actor, great supporting actors, and some gripping scenes (even if the dialogue sometimes needed to be better re-written for the screenplay, into a more natural, and less written speaking), this movie is well worth your time. And the difficult emotions are sufficiently earned to make them easier to bare. Just don't expect happy endings; just very human experiences.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/26/23

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Audience Member

A solid movie that can hit hard. The performances by the two sisters was convincing and I felt the dynamics at play.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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gary arthur l

Exquisite, moving performances by a stellar cast in an existential and gourgeous film!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

greg r

Alison Pill is extraordinary in this role. An amazing book brought to screen.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

This movie was great! Throughly enjoy it, it made be both cry and laugh.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

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Michael McGowan

Director

Alison Pill

Yoli

Sarah Gadon

Elf

Amybeth McNulty

Nora

Donal Logue

Jake

Mare Winningham

Lottie

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Synopsis

Based on Miriam Toews' best-selling novel, All My Puny Sorrows unexpectedly infuses wry humor into this heart-wrenching story of two loving sisters: one a gifted pianist (Sarah Gadon) obsessed with ending her life, the other a struggling writer (Alison Pill) who, in wrestling with this decision, makes profound discoveries about herself.

Director: Michael McGowan
Producer: Tyler Levine, Michael McGowan, Patrice Theroux
Screenwriter: Michael McGowan
Production Co: Carousel Pictures, Sugar Shack Productions, Mulmur Feed Co. Production
Rating: R (Language|Brief Sexuality)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 3, 2022
Runtime: 1h 43m

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