The Friend Christian Review

The Friend is a movie that shows a very deep journey between love, grief, and healing. If you have ever lost a loved one or felt alone at some moment in your life, then this movie will relate to you a lot. Iris (Naomi Watts) is a novelist who is trying to make sense of her life after the suicide of her best friend and mentor, Bill Murray. And in that process, a major twist comes when her mentor, her Great Dane, Apollo, names her.

Now, taking care of Apollo is no less than a nightmare for Iris. This dog is a challenge within itself – destruction of furniture, threat of eviction, and most of all, the presence of the dog which constantly reminds him of the pain of his friend’s suicide. But slowly, as Iris forms a bond with Apollo, her journey of emotional healing begins. This is something that is very understandable from a Christian perspective – sometimes we learn from the most unexpected situations of our lives and from there, healing comes.

When it comes to talking about grief, this film takes a completely honest and raw approach. Losing your loved one, and then understanding yourself, is a difficult process. The suicide of Iris’s mentor is a tough thing and it shows how fragile life is. The film handles grief, but there is also a quest for redemption in it. Iris’s journey is one of redemption, but it is not an instant fix. It is a process of gradual healing and forgiveness, of understanding yourself and giving your forgiveness for your friend.

And, if you decide to think from a little spiritual side, then the connection between Iris and Apollo becomes a beautiful metaphor in a way. Just like everything in our life goes upside down at times, similarly God also helps us in his own way from unexpected sources. This film shows that when we are going through grief, a dog, a companion, or anything that brings us face to face with our grief becomes a part of our healing.

Naomi Watts has shown her inner struggles very naturally and deeply in her role. The presence of Bill Murray, who is posthumously in the film, adds an emotional layer. Apollo, who is a great Dane, his acting has given his heart to the film. Her character conveys the emotional arc of the film very effectively.

The film explores grief in a serious way, but there is a lightness to it too, which sometimes forces you to smile. The sadness and heavy topics are never overbearing, because there is a redemptive feel in the film. It also handles sensitive topics like suicide in a humane way, in which Iris’s journey is a reflection on how we understand ourselves by facing our grief.

I really liked the message of this film. It is an amazing way to think about love, loss, and healing. And if you are looking for something that forces you to think about the struggles of your life, this film can give you that space. This film is a beautiful and touching reminder that sometimes small, unexpected things that happen have the greatest impact in our lives.

If you view this film from a Christian perspective, it has a powerful message of redemption, grace, and healing. This film shows the process between grief and loss, and shows how we heal our lives by understanding ourselves and processing our pain. And we learn the same thing in our faith – that when we are in grief, we sometimes get comfort from an unlikely source.

The message of The Friend is very simple: face grief, understand your healing process, and sometimes it is in life’s unexpected moments that we learn the most.