London, 1953. Mr. Williams, a veteran civil servant, is an important cog within the city's bureaucracy as it struggles to rebuild in the aftermath of World War II. Buried under paperwork at the office and lonely at home, his life has long felt empty and meaningless. Then a devastating medical diagnosis forces him to take stock, and to try and grasp some fulfilment before it passes permanently beyond reach.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.3/10
IMDb: 7.2/10
Letterboxd: 3.59/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Metacritic: 81
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Oliver Hermanus
Production
Number 9 Films, Film4 Productions, County Hall Arts, Lipsync Productions, RocketScience, Kurosawa Production
Cast
Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Tom Burke, Adrian Rawlins, Oliver Chris, Hubert Burton, Zoe Boyle, Barney Fishwick, Patsy Ferran, Michael Cochrane, Lia Williams, Anant Varman, Jessica Flood, Jamie Wilkes, Richard Cunningham, John Mackay, Ffion Jolly, Celeste Dodwell, Jonathan Keeble
Where to watch
fuboTV
Curator Review
Verdict
A warm, restrained, and beautifully made existential drama that turns a bureaucrat’s quiet life into something moving and humane. It’s especially rewarding if you like polished period filmmaking, melancholy performances, and stories about late-life awakening rather than big plot turns.
Best for
fans of intimate character studies
viewers who like British period drama
people drawn to reflective, life-affirming stories
admirers of understated performances
fans of remake-as-homage cinema
Skip if
you want a fast-moving plot
you dislike sentimental or elegiac tones
you prefer highly stylized or formally adventurous filmmaking
you need high stakes beyond emotional self-reckoning
Overview
Living is a graceful remake that understands the value of restraint. It takes a familiar existential premise and filters it through postwar London, where routine, decorum, and emotional repression have calcified into a life half-lived. The result is modest in scale but carefully composed, with a melancholy that never feels showy.
Worth noting
Bill Nighy gives the film its center of gravity, playing Mr. Williams with a kind of trembling dignity that makes every small shift feel significant. The film’s pleasures are in its details: the soft color palette, the patient pacing, the warmth that slowly enters the frame, and the way it finds meaning in simple acts of attention and kindness.
Bottom line
It can feel a little over-earnest at times, and some viewers may wish it trusted its own simplicity even more. But as a piece of humane craftsmanship, it lands beautifully. This is a film about learning how to live before time runs out, and it delivers that idea with sincerity and polish.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Jay (3.5★) · 1768 likes
its like breaking bad but instead of building a meth empire he builds a childrens play park
Danny (4★) · 1401 likes
Maybe the politest screenplay ever written.
Ella Kemp (4★) · 897 likes
“If only to be alive like that for one day.”
Score of the year, and Bill Nighy and Aimee Lou Wood together are just divine. Can’t get over how well made this is
anna nomaly (3★) · 830 likes
He makes you want to give him a hug but not an Oscar.
TheRightOpinion (3.5★) · 588 likes
This is actually a prequel to Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris
2015 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 56m · PG-13 · Curator 7.6/10 (128.9K ratings) · Where to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, OVID, Netflix Standard with Ads, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A gruff, melancholy man gradually rediscovering connection and purpose.
2004 · Comedy, Drama · 2h 8m · PG-13 · Curator 4.8/10 (1.2M ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, MGM Plus
A compassionate story about being trapped in systems and finding dignity through small acts.