A World Full of Hurt: Moniz, St. John & Dratch Join Patrick Wang’s “The Grief of Others”

The indie film world hit pay dirt when Patrick Wang began making the rounds with his debut film gem. Clocking in at almost three hours, In the Family garnered an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature (’12) and was featured in Filmmaker Magazine’s Top 25 list, and now the filmmaker is in the final stages of readying his next project with thesp Trevor St. John returning, Wendy Moniz toplining and Rachel Dratch supporting. Oona Laurence, Jeremy Shinder, Sonya Harum and Mike Faist also join the film. Produced by Wang, Jim Cummings, Erich Lochner, Matt Miller and Ben Wiessner, Variety reports that The Grief of Others is set to begin shooting in April in Nyack, N.Y.

Gist: Based on the novel by Leah Hager Cohen in which a couple’s baby dies 57 hours after his birth and the parents try to return to their previous lives and struggle to regain a semblance of normalcy for themselves and their two children. St. John and Moniz portray the parents.

Worth Noting: The book on which this is based on has received some strong reviews – NYTimes gave high praise for all its deep-seated sorrows, this is a hopeful book, a series of striking vignettes illuminating the humanity of these fully realized characters.

Do We Care?: This may just be, our most anticipated “sophomore film” for 2015. Our discerning critic Nicholas Bell raved about Wang’s debut calling him, “a master storyteller and director right out of the gate, the running time of In the Family just under three hours, and nary a false note in sight. Filled with long takes and static shot compositions, there’s a definite arthouse aesthetic to the film, but the film more than compensates for its massive running time to convey such a simple narrative.”