Mayim Bialik’s First Screenplay Focuses On A Family’s Struggle for Survival

Although her character appears to have tolerated the constant barrage of negativity from her parents and in particular her mother, she is holding back so much resentment and sadness that it threatens to destroy her if she would ever allow it. Dianna clearly carries herself with immense dignity and emotional complexity in her strong portrayal of Abigail. Her personal connection to Judaism appears in the film through music, prayer and mourning rituals. When she sings a traditional Yiddish song to her father, it reinforces the connection between them and creates a joyful moment that brings back poignant memories.

Jewish practices and beliefs, music and rituals provide an important backdrop to the film and we can only imagine the richness of their family life during better times.

Abigail’s brother, Nathan, abandoned the family 20 years ago as he could no longer tolerate the stress of living with his parents.  He has never looked back, and when Abigail reaches out to let him know that Eugene is in hospice, he’s got a very quick decision to make about how much he actually wants to see his father one last time. Simon Helberg convincingly portrays him as a man whose life seems dedicated to peacefulness and platitudes, no doubt as a way to protect himself from the volatility he experienced in his youth.

There is a profound sense of relief, several months after the funeral, when Abigail and Nate begin to re-establish the closeness that they had been unable to share during the difficult times when they were living in an unsettling home environment. Dustin Hoffman and Candice Bergen, two highly regarded artists in the film industry, bring immense depth and dimension to Eugene and Barbara’s characters.

 According to one review (Film Threat, 2022), “Dustin is so effective at conveying on-screen fragility and we’re so used to seeing this actor confidently dominate the screen that watching him recede evokes instant sympathy and even active distress. The review adds that Candice “acrobatically juggles the tricky emotional state of a self-centered person losing the only human being to whom she emotionally connects and handling it in the most self-centered way she can.”