A woman of means with a solid modeling career finds herself diagnosed with cancer and her family facing multiple issues on top of it.
Trigger warning: Cancer, suicidality, death, assault, bullying
From an original story by Christine Handy, written by Ziad H Hamzeh (with additional material by Nina Cullen-Hamzeh) and directed by Ziad H Hamzeh, Hello Beautiful is an emotional look into one family’s life, how it changes, and how big of an impact cancer has on them. That being said, the film is much more for the Lifetime Channel than the Shudder crowd and unfortunately, this viewer is more of the latter than the former. This means that while the craft and talent behind the film can be easily looked at, the story itself is not one that would normally appeal at all. The writing here is appropriate for the material while a bit schmaltzy in spots. The fact that almost everyone in the family is going through something at the same time as the mother and her cancer battle as well as friends and people around them feels a bit forced. Giving the fact that this is based on a true story, one wonders if all of this was in the book or the life of the woman who lived through it. The answer to this is likely out there, but one way or the other, the story here feels like there is too much. So many characters, so many sad life situations, while showing pretty much only one side of the cancer battle. In that is meant that the medical side of things does not feel like this is happening in the United States at all which may have something to do with the family at the center being very wealthy (we’re talking private driver kind of wealthy) so perhaps the scare of the cost of all the medical elements of the story is something that is foreign to them and thus removes a massive part of the usual cancer battle struggle. The story here is quite that of privilege in the face of adversity which doesn’t take away from the lead being a strong beautiful woman with a family, but it disconnects the story from the reality for the majority of people. This along with a few other elements makes it harder for the viewer to connect when the story should speak for itself. Something feels off, something feels not quite on point here. The writing is good, the direction works, but something is missing.
The cast here is more than decent with Tricia Helfer in the lead giving a strong performance of a woman who has it all and risks losing it all to cancer and potential death. Her working the part here is subtle and she makes it all work throughout the film. Playing her daughter is Sara Boustany who steals a few scenes as an originally broody nightmare teenager and eventually as a daughter who just needs her mother. Her performance here shines and she really leaves a mark on the viewer with her few scenes. Another scene-stealing performance comes from Sayed Badreya as Malek, the family’s chauffeur. He gets a few scenes, only a couple where he really gets to show his talent and he makes the most of these. The rest of the cast is all decent and doing the work they were hired for with talent.
The cinematography by Terrence Hayes looks very pretty from the start, getting a chance to have a few flourishes at the start of the film. Then it becomes a more generic style of filming which works well here. The images are clear, the framing works, the lighting is on point. Joining the visual aspects of the film is the music that helps underline certain scenes and is a bit much at times, like it’s trying to pry emotions out of viewers in case they were not paying attention to the drama on screen. The score here is by Marco Werba who does decent work for most of the film and has a few moments of overly schmaltzy music overtaking the story on the screen.
Overall, Hello Beautiful has good intentions, but some of them are squashed by “just” decent work. The film is decent and those who love a story with a lot of drama for just about all the characters, this should be an entertaining type of film. For those who want more depth, more connection from a film about fighting cancer and other familiar battles, this film will be either hit or miss. While seeing the qualities here, this film is not one that is the right type for this viewer so it’s simple ok with a few emotional moments that land and some interesting performances.