Overview
- Winslet says Mirren initially declined due to personal rules against playing characters with dementia or those who are dying, then reversed course after reading the script.
- The screenplay was written by Winslet’s 21-year-old son Joe Anders for a screenwriting class, and he initially resisted turning it into a film before collaborating on revisions.
- Winslet decided to direct to safeguard her son’s authorship and assembled a cast including Mirren, Toni Collette, Andrea Riseborough, Johnny Flynn and Timothy Spall.
- She has linked the project to the death of her mother in 2017, describing emotionally difficult days on set while pursuing a story about family and end-of-life choices.
- To foster intimate performances, Winslet removed overhead booms and used hidden microphones on an uncluttered set; an early review from The Film Stage was negative.