Unless
A writer struggles with her daughter's decision to drop out of college and live on the streets. Based on the novel "Unless" by Carol Shields. Reta Winters has many reasons to be happy. Then, suddenly,…
Unless
A writer struggles with her daughter's decision to drop out of college and live on the streets. Based on the novel "Unless" by Carol Shields. Reta Winters has many reasons to be happy. Then, suddenly, all the quiet satisfactions of her well-lived life disappear in a moment: her eldest daughter Norah inexplicably drops out of college and is found on a Toronto street corner, pan-handling and refusing to speak, with a cardboard sign reading GOODNESS around her neck. Living a few miles outside of Orangeville, Ontario, common law couple Reta and Tom Winters, a novelist/translator and doctor respectively, lead what they consider a relatively perfect life, Reta, in this circumstance, not understanding the concept of extended emotional pain. That all changes when after the Christmas break and seeing their eldest of three daughters Norah back off to college in Toronto, nineteen days later they learn that Norah has not only not returned to college, but that she has decided to live in a women's shelter at night, while most of her days are spent sitting on the busy sidewalk in front of Honest Ed's carrying a cardboard sign with only one word: GOODNESS. They learn this information from her boyfriend Ben Abbot, whose friend spotted her in front of Honest Ed's a few days after she went missing and who cannot report anything out of the ordinary between them that would have caused her to leave. Because she is an adult, the authorities have no power to do anything to her without her consent. She has decided not to speak while acknowledging the presence of anyone she knows with a look, she not agitated unless there is a use of force to try and remove her. As such, she does not seem angry at any person specifically, including her family, while the manager of the shelter can see that she is in clear mind and is acting with a purpose, whatever that may be. While Reta and Tom go through a plethora of emotions over time and get words of support from friends and family, including from Reta's mentor Danielle Westerman, whose books she often translates, they may find that they may never know what brought Norah to this state, whether her sits in front of Honest Ed's be a small or grand gesture, and that all they can do is watch over her from afar, while going on with their lives, knowing that the alternative of not seeing her on that street corner is worse. —Huggo
Unless
Drama,Family
Film Details
A writer struggles with her daughter's decision to drop out of college and live on the streets. Based on the novel "Unless" by Carol Shields. Reta Winters has many reasons to be happy.
Then, suddenly, all the quiet satisfactions of her well-lived life disappear in a moment: her eldest daughter Norah inexplicably drops out of college and is found on a Toronto street corner, pan-handling and refusing to speak, with a cardboard sign reading GOODNESS around her neck. Living a few miles outside of Orangeville, Ontario, common law couple Reta and Tom Winters, a novelist/translator and doctor respectively, lead what they consider a relatively perfect life, Reta, in this circumstance, not understanding the concept of extended emotional pain. That all changes when after the Christmas break and seeing their eldest of three daughters Norah back off to college in Toronto, nineteen days later they learn that Norah has not only not returned to college, but that she has decided to live in a women's shelter at night, while most of her days are spent sitting on the busy sidewalk in front of Honest Ed's carrying a cardboard sign with only one word: GOODNESS.
They learn this information from her boyfriend Ben Abbot, whose friend spotted her in front of Honest Ed's a few days after she went missing and who cannot report anything out of the ordinary between them that would have caused her to leave. Because she is an adult, the authorities have no power to do anything to her without her consent. She has decided not to speak while acknowledging the presence of anyone she knows with a look, she not agitated unless there is a use of force to try and remove her.
As such, she does not seem angry at any person specifically, including her family, while the manager of the shelter can see that she is in clear mind and is acting with a purpose, whatever that may be. While Reta and Tom go through a plethora of emotions over time and get words of support from friends and family, including from Reta's mentor Danielle Westerman, whose books she often translates, they may find that they may never know what brought Norah to this state, whether her sits in front of Honest Ed's be a small or grand gesture, and that all they can do is watch over her from afar, while going on with their lives, knowing that the alternative of not seeing her on that street corner is worse. —Huggo.