Gone

While the subject matter of Alzheimer's disease wouldn't be a selling point for me to watch a movie, I went to see 'Gone' at a Los Angeles screening because it featured one of my favorite actresses, Barbara Tarbuck, who's work I have enjoyed for many years. Gone was no difference. In the film, Ms. Tarbuck plays Cassandra, an elderly woman who is starting to show signs of Alzheimer's, which worries her gay son, Ian. Day in, day out, Ian, and his partner Simon, have to deal with Cassandra's confusion between reality and fiction. She thinks every piece of junk mail she gets is directly addressed to her, keeps telling the same stories of her heroic missions as a government official and is convinced that Washington wants her to work for them again. 'Gone' surprised me because it showed me a different type of Alzheimer's. The disease is much more than memory lose. And what the film also showed me is that the patient is not the only one suffering. It also affects the people around him/her. And yet, the film is far from being depressing. It's actually quite funny at some point. Pretty hard to be able to find humor is such a dark subject and I can only credit the makers of this film for this! What I loved is the film's surprising ending. I will, of course, not reveal what that is, but I can tell you this: I could easily see a feature version of this short film, so I can find out more about those well-written, intriguing characters.