TIFF 2021: The Good House Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

Every once in a while comes films that lead audiences to believe they know what a film is about before it becomes something completely different. With a title like The Good House, it is easy to create expectations and for the most part, the film played to them at least to start. Based on the book of the same name by Anne Leary and boasting a spectacular lead performance from Sigourney Weaver, the film plays like a decent fluffy Nancy Myers esque character tale until that façade slowly gave way for something a little more intense and with definitely more stakes. Perhaps it could have stayed in that former lane which would have made it dull fairly quickly but this shift made it a much more interesting to watch. That being said, that tonal shift is not an easy one to pull off and this film did a decent job at it. Though it may not work for everyone, the performances, especially that from Weaver, make it work.

As mentioned, The Good House follows Hildy Good (Weaver), a New England real estate agent and pillar of her community whose life began to unravel and she had to once again contend with her personal demons. Being part of a tight-knit town, everyone knew everything about everyone so her history was no mystery. Meanwhile, the changing times meant a changing landscape within Hildy’s community of Wendover, Massachusetts was getting increasingly harder to keep up with. Already forced into rehab for a problem with alcohol without ever acknowledging her problem (she believed herself to be a responsible drinker), she turned back to it as a means to cope but little did she know, she maybe was not as much in control as she thought she was. The further she spiraled, the more she inadvertently took down with her. Devolving too much into melodrama, the film’s many subplots would have worked better if the other characters within the town were more developed. However, there was hope for her in the form of a former flame named Frank (Kline) for whom she reconnected with. A real grounding source for her, the only question was whether or not Hildy would get her act together before it was too late.

It should not come as much of a surprise that the best part of The Good House was Weaver’s spectacular performance as Hildy, a damaged woman in denial. Nevertheless, the pain was plainly there to see as she struggled to hold it all together as the world she had created for herself crumbled before her very eyes. Through her ups and downs, she was compelling to watch over the slow burn that was her character arc despite the elements around her weren’t quite to her level. Kline as Frank was also a delight with his great chemistry with Weaver making for a fun dynamic.

The Good House may not all work but in the end is an overdue star vehicle for Sigourney Weaver.

 still courtesy of TIFF

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.