After having visions of a member of her support group who killed herself, a woman who also suffers with chronic pain seeks out the widower of the suicide.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.0/10
IMDb: 6.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 49%
Metacritic: 49
TMDB: 6.3/10
Director
Daniel Barnz
Production
We're Not Brothers Productions, Cinelou Films, Echo Films
Cast
Jennifer Aniston, Adriana Barraza, Anna Kendrick, Sam Worthington, Mamie Gummer, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Chris Messina, Lucy Punch, Britt Robertson, Paula Cale, Ashley Crow, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Camille Guaty, Allen Maldonado, Camille Mana, Julio Oscar Mechoso, Evan O'Toole, Lizzie Peet, Pepe Serna
Where to watch
Philo, Darkroom
Curator Review
Verdict
A bruised, low-key grief drama anchored by Jennifer Aniston’s unusually raw performance, but the film’s self-seriousness and thin dramatic construction keep it from fully landing. It’s worth a look if you’re drawn to character studies about pain, recovery, and emotional isolation.
Best for
viewers interested in restrained, performance-driven dramas
fans of stories about chronic pain, grief, and recovery
people curious about Jennifer Aniston in a serious dramatic role
Skip if
you want a tightly plotted or emotionally cathartic drama
you’re put off by bleak, inward-facing character studies
you prefer films with a warmer tone or more narrative momentum
Overview
Cake is built around a difficult, prickly protagonist and asks you to sit with her discomfort rather than explain it away. That can be compelling when the film trusts the silence, the physicality of pain, and the small gestures of damage. Jennifer Aniston gives the movie its strongest asset: a weathered, guarded performance that feels deliberately unglamorous and emotionally exhausted.
Worth noting
The film’s problem is that its seriousness often outpaces its insight. It circles grief, guilt, and self-destruction without always finding a fresh angle, and some of the writing feels blunt where it should feel observant. Still, there’s a real sensitivity in the chronic-pain details and in the way the movie treats recovery as messy, incomplete, and often lonely.
Bottom line
If you respond to wounded-character dramas and performances that do a lot of the heavy lifting, Cake has enough honesty to justify the watch. If you need sharper structure or a more satisfying emotional payoff, it may feel like a slog.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Taz (3.5★) · 347 likes
no one told her life was gonna be this way
davidehrlich (0.5★) · 132 likes
a human toilet.
Julia (3★) · 110 likes
Jennifer Aniston really is THAT bitch!!! She should stop being in shitty comedies and get down to the nitty gritty because she's an incredible actress and this film proves it.
Robby · 97 likes
The titular cake looked delicious but other than that this movie sucks
2003 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 21m · PG-13 · Curator 6.0/10 (51K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Shares a raw, intimate focus on emotional pain and a protagonist whose defenses hide deep vulnerability.