The Sweet Hereafter (1997) Movie Review: It's a sad, sad, sad, sad world
Life is Beautiful. Requiem for a Dream. Dear Zachary. Dogville. These movies are draining. They are beautiful. They are punishing in their look at the relentlessness of existence. They are movies I think everyone should watch, but I will never watch again. I'm adding Sweet Hereafter to this list.
The plot is simple: an accident with a school bus killed a bunch of children. A lawyer (Holm) has come to town to generate a class action lawsuit, gathering the parents and their stories. Secrets of the small frozen town are revealed including infidelity, drug abuse, and incest. It's a deeply sad and effecting tale of broken people and the glue they attempt to hold themselves together with.
Just watch it. It's… goddamn. It's good. Heartbreakingly so.