'Good Grief': Dan Levy explores having friends who understand you in a 'judgmental' culture

Canada's very own Schitt's Creek star, Dan Levy, has made a triumphant debut directing his first feature film, Good Grief, which he also wrote and stars in.

Where to watch Good Grief: Netflix Jan. 5
Director: Dan Levy
Writer: Dan Levy
Cast: Dan Levy, Ruth Negga, Himesh Patel, Luke Evans, Arnaud Valois, Celia Imrie, David Bradley
Runtime: 100 minutes

Throughout Good Grief, while it's certainly a dramatic story, Levy blends real comedy, and sensitive moments, in the film.

The film introduces the audience to Marc (Levy), his husband Oliver (Luke Evans), and their friends Sophie (Ruth Negga) and Thomas (Himesh Patel), at a holiday party taking place at Marc and Oliver's London home.

But when Oliver unexpectedly dies that night, Marc has to process his own grief and navigate life while experiencing intense loss.

Things shift when Marc finds out that Oliver hadn't been completely honest in their marriage, which prompts Marc to take Sophie and Thomas with him to Paris, to stay at an apartment Marc didn't know Oliver had.

Marc doesn't tell his friends why they're going to Paris, but it's in that city that the group really explores their friendship, while Marc is also learning more about his late husband.

Watch: 'Good Grief' star didn't realize how famous Dan Levy is all over the world

Marc also starts exploring a new budding love interest in the film, while in Paris, with Theo (Arnaud Valois).

"It was very appealing to be a breath of fresh air, to put a smile on his face, to put a smile back on his face," Arnaud Valois said told Yahoo Canada about playing Theo.

'Exploring what it is to have friends that understand you'

While grief is something that looks different for every person, Levy said for this story, the intention was to use if as a "springboard" to talk about friendship.

"I think it was in the process of figuring that out that you come to realize that it can be an incredibly isolating experience," Levy told Yahoo Canada. "But in my case, I've been single for a long time, my friends are, aside from my actual family, my friends are the people that I confide in. They're the people that have encouraged me to keep trying."

"Especially when you work in a very high stakes situation. This job is tough and it can take a real emotional toll on you. Friendships are the life raft that comes to save you when you need it the most. So for me, yes it was about the isolation, but you had to show the isolation to then show the community."

He added that the story also emphasizes that, "grief is is all around us," even if people might not show it to the outside world.

"We're in a culture right now that I think is particularly cruel and particularly judgmental, and particularly shallow in the judgment that we place on people," Levy said. "It's a very reactive culture, social media culture of knowing nothing about a person, but pointing and placing judgment."

"So this idea of really exploring what it is to have friends that understand you and are there for you, ... it was important."

Ruth Negga echoed Levy's comments and stressed that it's really about "understanding."

"Sometimes you just want someone who understands you and that's an incredible thing," she said. "It's like stark relief."

'The relationship dynamic between friendships never gets to be really explored in movies'

If you're like us and you watch movies often wishing that the characters that are the friends of the protagonist, or the couple in love, were more prominent in the story, Levy has filled that gap with Good Grief by exploring the love of friendship.

"I haven't been able to see movies that focus on friendships being a central, justifiable place to tell a story," Levy said. "Friendships are always on the peripheral of romantic comedies, or certain dramas, where the audience is rooting for love."

"I have just been so craving a story that is a love story about friendships, giving them the space to breathe, and to show kind of the complexity of what it is to have close friends as an adult. ... The relationship dynamic between friendships never gets to be really explored in movies, because your real estate as a friend, having played one, is small. ... Even in a lot of the romantic comedies and dramas that I've watched, the friends are the characters that I'm thinking like, 'Can I get a spinoff with them?’ ... So to take that and give it the time it deserves felt very special."

'Not always easy' to be honest in friendships

One of the most refreshing aspects of Good Grief is the sincerity of these friendships. While many films show a character's friend insisting that it's OK to me "messy" and not have things figured out, Levy takes it one step further.

Particularly with Himesh Patel's character, Thomas, Good Grief depicts a circumstance where friends hold each other accountable, and point out that their behaviour has gotten to a point that needs to change.

"It felt like a culmination of everything that he's been feeling for a long time, but been holding in. Because he's kind of the one that's been keeping it running to some degree, and sort of absorbing everything that's been going on with the other two," Patel said. "But eventually, there comes a point where you can't quite do that anymore."

"It's so valuable to have those people in your life, when you can be that honest with them and maintain a friendship. And if anything, strengthen a friendship, or relationship. It's scary. It's not always easy. I'm not great at confrontation and being that honest. ... Actually, that's something I've gained from this process of doing this movie."

Negga highlighted that it's a very impactful depiction of adult, mature friendship.

"I remember, like as Ruth, thinking, ... this is the maturity that you require at a certain age, ... maybe it's a maturity you require from your friendships, groups that do hold you accountable for your own mess, but also your responsibility for the mess within the group generally," Negga said.