After a loss that affected them heavily, a married couple must continue with their work of helping people cross over to the afterlife.
Written and directed by Boyd Anderson and J. Markus Anderson, credited as The Andersons, If You Should Leave Before Me is a story of love, letting go, and moving on. There is a ton in here, and the film does suffer a bit from “too much” and too long of a runtime, but the first hour and last 15 minutes here are solid. The themes are well explored, the love story is charming, there is something to pull at every heart string, and a few comic moments that work really well. The writing is good and so is the direction, but the film could have used a but if a trim on the runtime.
The cast here is where the film wins with a bunch of talented folks giving good to solid performances. The two leads here are played by Shane P. Allen and John Wilcox who show care and chemistry as well as some disagreement here and there, but it all works great for their characters. Their work here sells the film, keeps the viewer interested, and helps the story connect with the audience. The supporting cast has solid performances from Merrick McCartha as Lorne, the first soul they meet, and his performance is charming and sad, just in the right measurements to make the film feel like something is about to be said here. Sarah Sawyer has a different type of death and meeting with one of the “death counselors”, giving her an emotional connection that some will identify with a lot (like this reviewer for example). The cast overall is really good and works well as an ensemble.
The cinematography here is interesting in that it looks good, but it also is not always in the same aspect ratio which may get on some folks’ nerves, but it works well here. The work by cinematographer Dan Watt makes good use of the different aspect ratios and of the different rooms the story takes place in. There is a lot in some of these rooms and the camera work makes the most if it, helping show off the work of set designers Ava Decapri and Nico Pliskin. Their work in the second room in particular is fantastic, showing the personality of each person the couple needs to assist in ways that are lovely to look at sometimes and a bit depressive at other times.
The film here is touching and heartfelt with a few substories that are really worth checking out as well. The runtime is a bit too long, and some of the substories could easily have been cut to make for a more concise and impactful film. Still, this is a good one with some good writing and direction, a few great performances, and a bunch of say about love, grief, letting go, and moving on.