Dealing with our own mortality is perhaps the biggest struggle human beings face. It’s a never-ending quest to preserve precious minutes, only to eventually hear the call that steals us away into the unknown. The only thing more trying than losing your own life is losing the life of someone you love. So how does a grieving husband live in the shadow of his wife’s passing?

Let me say that the gritty look of Forty Years From Yesterday, combined with the closed-off feelings the sets provide, amplifies the bleak effect the film creates. I also applaud the film for running headfirst into such a heavy topic.

But the ripples leave too quickly for us to appreciate the stones being thrown in the pond. We get to where we’re going too quickly to truly be affected by the impact of this woman’s death. Obviously, she was someone’s mother and wife, but let us love her, too. Let us feel what made her such a spectacular person. Was she a giver? A teacher? Was she there to listen and console, to offer wisdom to help you overcome?

Still, this is another commendable effort for the Volunteer State’s filmmaking community. Culture is alive and well in Memphis.