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Life Itself

Life Itself

Drama · Romance · 2018

As a young New York couple goes from college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, the unexpected twists of their journey create reverberations that echo over continents and through lifetimes.

Movie details

Life Itself

“Life will surprise you”

2018 Drama · Romance 1h 58m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

As a young New York couple goes from college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, the unexpected twists of their journey create reverberations that echo over continents and through lifetimes.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Life Itself?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Dan Fogelman

Written by

Dan Fogelman

Oscar Isaac

Oscar Isaac

Will Dempsey

Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde

Abby Dempsey

Annette Bening

Annette Bening

Dr. Cait Morris

Antonio Banderas

Antonio Banderas

Vincent Saccione

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson

Self

Olivia Cooke

Olivia Cooke

Dylan Dempsey

Mandy Patinkin

Mandy Patinkin

Irwin Dempsey

Court is in session

Put Life Itself on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.