Notes for My Son (2020) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
10 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
7/10
Nice sunday
faer_kr30 November 2020
An Argentine film based on real events. It is about a woman with terminal Cancer who writes a notebook of memories for her son. Quality. Entertaining It focuses more on the disease than on the writing of the notebook. It feels more like a sales hook for a book than a movie that seeks to expose the making of the notebook. He handles the subject of Euthanasia in an interesting way, although he is not the best. Performances are fine. Short-lived. With moments that shake and other happy ones. It is not to cry out loud, since it does not succeed because those sequences are very linear. Narrated in the first person mostly. An option to watch on Netflix.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
All Very Natural, No Low Bumps
maurirbravo24 November 2020
When I heard the real story and when I saw what the film was being made, I knew that it was a story that deserved to be brought to the screen ... but there were risks that everything would be done with cheap shots.

Luckily, they had the right director and cast... and they made a great movie, just the right length... without going too long.

It is just as the director said in an interview: it is moving (without resorting to easy tears, it is all natural), but also funny (without being exaggerated). It is like life. Sometimes light, sometimes intense, and deeply dramatic.

We see Valeria totally committed to the role, and she does it with great respect. They are all barbarous, even - dare I say - Lamothe. I know he's made of wood acting, but here he convinced me as Maria's partner, who was always by his side.
13 out of 16 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
i see life in it.
gmomplet26 November 2020
IMO movie's objective was to make a very human film, of such a heartbreaking story with many life lessons. just hearing the plot can make people emotional. in terms of cinema it is well made. at last, a movie hard to watch without sobbing from start to end.
6 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Makes you value life
nuffieflush1 December 2020
Good movie, great actors and actresses. Give it a chance. The movie is real and sad but not excessively dramatic. No hollywood sugarcoat, it is how it is. Beautiful story I wanted to call my loved ones after watching. Definetely woth a watch. If you are an easy cryer, this is a tearjerker for sure.
5 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Touching Story
stefstars21 December 2020
From the trailer, you can tell this is a heart wrenching story and it is. It's the story of a woman in the last stages of her cancer. She has made the decision to be euthanized rather than to have a natural death, as the pain from her illness has become too much to bear and her body has severely deteriorated. From an American perspective, this film gives those against assisted death a real life account about the other side of the coin. The woman encounters obstacles in having this death of her choice in her country as well with her primary doctor refusing to euthanize her because she thinks death should be a natural thing. Still, we see the physical suffering the woman is in and the emotional toll it's taking on those around her. You think for yourself which side you're on with the assisted death debate.

Almost the entire film takes place at the hospital. Maru spends time with her family and friends, but the person whom she really wants to enjoy her last moments with is her son Tomy. We see her writing in the notebook that she will leave behind for her son which is full of stories from her life, notes about the love she'll always have for him, and advice on living life to the fullest. From what the movie shows, all the advice Maru leaves for Tomy came from her own experience as she was someone who took life by the bullhorns and made the most out of it. Each piece of advice that she gives him is demonstrated in the movie so the audience knows that what she was passing on to him truly came from her.

One thing I think could've been better is to have more focus on her relationship with her son. The scenes with her son aren't too many and this is the center of her story. The film focuses more on her wanting to be euthanized and the fame she developed from the tweets she posted that chaptered her experience with cancer. At times you'll hear her narrating with lines from the notebook she'll leave behind for Tomy, which I suppose loops us back to her relationship with her son. But I still think there should have been more scenes of her spending time with her son.

Still, I appreciated the film as a whole. As I mentioned earlier, it does well to show people the necessity of assisted death and how many people's morality is skewed when it comes to this subject. Maru was someone who enjoyed her life and I don't think she planned to end it anytime soon had she not been plagued with cancer. It shows that she did think about her loved ones and considered their feelings when making her decision. Her endless love for her son was apparent and I think what she did for him in the end was so special and perfectly shows the otherworldly strength of a mother's love.

It really is a tearjerker so have some tissue boxes ready before watching. It's definitely worth a watch since we can all use some advice from Maru, someone who made the most of her days up until the very end.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Tearjerker
budschory-886-71197526 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
If you do not want to cry, you should not watch the film. The Mother dying of cancer is the strongest character and then her loving husband. Her view was that life ends in death. In Argentina they have terminal sedation and so family and friends had time to say goodbye. Here come the tears. No its not when she is with her husband but when she is with her three year old boy for whom she has written a notebook of advice.

This film is based on a true story and it was told well. If you do not want to cry, do not watch.
4 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Sad history, beautiful movie
aneborges199826 November 2020
Emotional, without drama. She was brave and the movie made me think about acceptance of the inevitable. Argentina has a lot of greats movies.
3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Beautiful....
RosanaBotafogo6 February 2021
What a cute and sad movie, we already know that the dramatic load will be very heavy, and that cute kid won my heart, Julian Sorin, I didn't cry as much as I imagined, maybe because I already knew the outcome, a fun, melancholic and even somber development, pain of loss, it is the worst pain ... But what hurts the most is knowing that it was based on the life and work of Marie Velazquez, beautiful....
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
More than I expected
directortim201223 February 2021
I expected something more sentimental. It is emotional, but also funny and surprisingly real. A very good film.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Emotional movie!
stylianosoteriou9 March 2021
It not a movie for watch and enjoy it but you have much to learn from it! If you lost someone very close to you from cancer you will understand if you dont you will see how it feels! Much respect one more time to the heroes who fight against cancer!
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed