STORYLINE: Left to raise two young sons after the unexpected death of his wife, DAD’s life begins to unravel. Grief is messy and chaotic enough as it is, but when it takes the form of an unhinged and unwanted house guest – CROW – taunting him from the shadows, things start to spiral out of control…but maybe that’s exactly what Dad needs. (IMDb)

    Loss and grief are a natural part of the human experience.  At its heart, the romance film Ghost (1990) is 

 loss and grief.  The Oscar winning Manchester by the Sea (2016) is a heavy drama about the topic.   Death at a Funeral (2007) and the 2010 remake by Chris Rock take a witty approach to the subject. The Thing with Feathers, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, a 2025 independent film about that very subject. 

    It’s hard to shed new light on old subjects. The approach that The Thing with Feathers takes, is to visually represent grief. It does this by having grief take on the form of a crow. Through this visual representation, the viewer is taken inside the grieving mind as every decision is made.

   The metaphor works for the majority of the film. It becomes sloppy during the climax.  Mainly because the film becomes convoluted.  The Thing with Feathers split its epilogue between wrapping up the film and explaining artistic choices made during the climax.

   The film balances moments of dark cinematography with moments of vibrant colors.  All this is designed to reflect the ups and downs of the griefing process. The crow, itself, was visually interesting as well.  Yes, it looked like a crow, but at times it moved as a human.

    With the subject of grief and loss, the film is a darker film to watch.  It is a harder film to watch as well.  Considering the subject matter that is natural.

   The Thing with Feathers is a dark drama with an interesting visual portrayal of grief.

   Until next time I will see you at the movies!