Still Alice (2015) | agoodmovietowatch
Still Alice 8.2 2015 Movie

Still Alice

Dir. Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland · France, UK · English

Our take by Jamie Rutherford

Still Alice is a drama about a renowned linguistics professor (Julianne Moore) who slowly begins to lose words and find herself lost in familiar places, leading to an unexpected diagnosis of Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease. Alice’s husband (Alec Baldwin) and three grown children subsequently struggle to maintain balance as her condition deteriorates, even as she steadfastly strives to maintain her self-composure. Interestingly, Alice uses her professional skills in communication to employ innovative ways to maintain her language and memory as well as possible, despite her ongoing decline. It’s a melancholy yet wonderfully touching film that feels thoroughly honest and real every step of the way. Julianne Moore is superb throughout—a role that earned her a well-deserved Best Actress Oscar for her performance.

What happens

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested.

What the critics said

Notable Critics

"In the absence of the anger and the wildness that are crouched and caged within this most terrible of themes, "Still Alice" is worth watching, for the sake of Julianne Moore."

— Anthony Lane

"It's the intent of this moving film to capture something that for obvious reasons is rarely attempted in memoir or movie, i.e., the experience of the deadly disease from the perspective of the sufferer rather than the caregivers."

— Molly Haskell

Awards

Oscars

1 win

Won: Best Actress

Golden Globes

1 nom

Nominated: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture

BAFTA

1 win

Won: Best Leading Actress

SAG Awards

1 win

Won: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Spirit Awards

1 win

Won: Best Female Lead

Nat. Board of Review

2 wins

Won: Best ActressWon: Top Ten Independent Films

LAFCA

1 nom

Nominated: Best Actress

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About the author

Jamie Rutherford

Jamie Rutherford is a contributing writer at A Good Movie to Watch, with film reviews spanning a wide range of genres and eras. Their work on the site has covered titles from Behind the Candelabra to Last Days in Vietnam to Love is Strange.