For all the heartache and loneliness that comes from losing a loved one, only one thing's clear: we should never go through grief alone. Lilting takes us into the lives of two people that are bound by loss.
Ben Whishaw plays Richard, a somber young man who intends to connect with the mother (Pei-Pei Cheng) of his recently deceased friend, Kai. But he's timid to speak to her because of a language barrier that exists between them and a secret that could divide them even further.
Despite solid performances from the cast as a whole, this 91-minute film is surprisingly bogged down by its use of flashbacks and lack of dramatic turns. This intentionally small-storied film already moves at a deliberately slow pace and so the exposition, while necessary, kills momentum.
But what's refreshing about Lilting is that it's the modern (and British, but not Downton Abbey British) version of Ordinary People. And while Lilting is about ordinary people and their problems, it doesn't move me. I can buy into a character like Ben who aims to do the right thing even when (at times) he does them for the wrong reasons. And I can buy into a movie that seems to want to tell an earnest story--but not at the expense of a movie that forces me to hand over my tears.
