Back to trending
One True Thing

One True Thing

Drama · Romance · 1998

A career woman reassesses her parents' lives after she is forced to care for her cancer-stricken mother.

Movie details

One True Thing

“Love What You Have.”

1998 Drama · Romance 2h 7m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

A career woman reassesses her parents' lives after she is forced to care for her cancer-stricken mother.

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 One True Thing?

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.

Time Is Up

Time Is Up

Romance · 2021

Vivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.

Inventing the Abbotts

Inventing the Abbotts

Drama · 1997

In the 1950s, brothers Jacey and Doug Holt, who come from the poorer side of their sleepy Midwestern town, vie for the affections of the wealthy, lovely Abbott sisters. Lady-killer Jacey alternates between Eleanor and Alice, wanting simply to break the hearts of rich young women. But sensitive Doug has a real romance with Pamela, which Jacey and the Abbott patriarch, Lloyd, both frown upon.

Remember Me

Remember Me

Drama · 2010

Still reeling from a heartbreaking family event and his parents' subsequent divorce, Tyler Hawkins discovers a fresh lease on life when he meets Ally Craig, a gregarious beauty who witnessed her mother's death. But as the couple draws closer, the fallout from their separate tragedies jeopardizes their love.

My Life Without Me

My Life Without Me

Drama · 2003

A fatally ill mother with only two months to live creates a list of things she wants to do before she dies without telling her family of her illness.

Wander Darkly

Wander Darkly

Romance · 2020

New parents Adrienne and Matteo are forced to reckon with trauma amidst their troubled relationship. They must revisit the memories of their past and unravel haunting truths in order to face their uncertain future.

Petulia

Petulia

Drama · 1968

Dr. Archie Bollen is having a midlife crisis. He's just divorced his wife and is establishing a new life for himself. One night, he catches the eye of Petulia Danner, a charming, free-spirited young woman. Petulia's vibrant personality hides her fear of her abusive husband, David, whose father is a powerful society figure. As Petulia and Archie's feelings for each other grow, they must decide what it is they truly want.

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights

Drama · 2011

Yorkshire moorlands, northern England, in the late 18th century. Young Heathcliff, rescued from the streets of Liverpool by Mr. Earnshaw, the owner of Wuthering Heights, an isolated farm, develops over the years an insane passion for Cathy, his foster sister, a sick obsession destined to end tragically.

Chinese Box

Chinese Box

Drama · 1997

The story of Hong Kong, from New Year's Day to June 30th, 1997, when the British left their colony and turned it over to the People's Republic of China.

Lullaby

Lullaby

Drama · 2014

Estranged from his family, Jonathan (Hedlund) discovers his father has decided to take himself off life support in forty-eight hours’ time. During this intensely condensed period, a lifetime of drama plays out. Robert (Jenkins) fights a zero sum game to reclaim all that his illness stole from his family. A debate rages on patients’ rights and what it truly means to be free. Jonathan reconciles with his father, reconnects with his mother (Archer), sister (Brown-Findlay), and his love (Adams) and reclaims his voice through two unlikely catalysts – a young, wise-beyond-her-years patient (Barden) and a no-nonsense nurse (Hudson). Through this intensely life affirming prism, an unexpected and powerful journey of love, laughter, and forgiveness unfolds.

The Thing with Feathers

The Thing with Feathers

Drama · 2025

Following the death of his wife, a young father's hold on reality crumbles, and a strange presence begins to stalk him from the shadowy recesses of the apartment he shares with his two young sons.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Carl Franklin

Written by

Karen Croner

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep

Kate Gulden

Renée Zellweger

Renée Zellweger

Ellen Gulden

William Hurt

William Hurt

George Gulden

Tom Everett Scott

Tom Everett Scott

Brian Gulden

Lauren Graham

Lauren Graham

Jules

Nicky Katt

Nicky Katt

Jordan Belzer

James Eckhouse

James Eckhouse

District Attorney

Court is in session

Put One True Thing on trial.

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

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

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

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

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