Grace is Gone (2007)

One melancholic and depressing film that highlights the painful journey of grief depicting a story of an unexpectedly widowed husband, Stanley, and the struggles against himself to accept his wife's death alongside bearing the stress to deliver the devastating news to his two young daughters.

The biggest development I like about this film is the portrayal of the subsequent changes in the father's parenting revolving around his inability to understand his daughters and express his affection. Stanley can be observed as a father figure who is notably awkward and strict with his kids, but the occurrence of his wife's death was able to eventually softened him up and opened up a side of him that was able to encourage him to express his love for the kids in a right manner. I believe despite taking such a devastating event to propel him to let his guards down on dealing with the reality of being a supportive father, it brought out the best form of father figure in him which he will vitally require to raise his children single handedly in the long run.

Furthermore, through the journey of the characters on dealing with the loss, I particularly liked the impact from the mystery revolving around Stanley's wife and how her character was still able to successfully bring me in with the family to mourn over the loss towards a character that was barely featured much in the film, yet the impact from its sense of emptiness and the remains of her presence in the film is still utterly heartbreaking and difficult to accept.

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I personally have not experienced the struggles of losing a loved one. I lost my grandmother at a very young age, but I was too young to comprehend what loss and grief really meant. However, this film has a given me a clearer insight on the elements and nature behind human grief through the eyes of Stanley, and based of my experiences from the challenges of missing someone who is away for a short period, I can particularly relate with the children through the struggles of missing their mother. To illustrate, my mother used to go on a lot of short overseas business trips back when I was in primary school, and given that I am an only child, I somehow shared a stronger bond with my mother and often could not bare the loneliness I'm in when she's away, even though if it's only for a good few days of the week. Hence in this case, I would not be able to take in a reality in which a particular someone who is special to me is gone for good and it is difficult to imagine experiencing missing somebody who is never going to come back, making it by far one of the scariest things to experience and comprehend. 

The biggest life lesson here to take is that life is short and fleeting.

It is important to remember that one should always take the time to appreciate what's in the present moment to the fullest possible way because time serves unpredictable answers in the future, and I believe the best form of mindset to cope and tackle the somewhat cruel natures of life sometimes, is to be always grateful and appreciate what you have alongside preparing for the worst, 

Because a life lived half heartedly with guilt, is a life barely worth living.