Sundance 2022

“Living” is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “Ikiru.” I did not know this until the opening credits started playing. I would have preferred to have watched “Ikiru” first. But that is my reference point for this film. “Living” is a tenderhearted film starring Bill Nighy as a stuffy government bureaucrat who learns he is terminally ill. Facing his own mortality, he seeks out some of the joys he has missed out on to this point. While this easily could have veered into the saccharine, Nighy’s stoic posture and performance perfectly restrain the inherent sentimentality. Beautifully shot and composed from start to finish, it’s a very well-crafted film and has me eager to see Kurosawa’s original. 

— 3.5 / 5 ⭐