Manchester by the Sea starring Casey Affleck is one of the best films you see this year

REVIEW: Manchester by the Sea is a superbly written and acted American drama that must be hailed as one of the best films you will see in 2017.

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MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (M)

Director: Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count On Me)

Starring: Casey Affleck, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Gretchen Mol, Michelle Williams.

Rating: Five out of five stars

Waiting in the darkness for a mourning that may never come

GRIEF. Some can let it go. Some would rather it stay.

And then there are those so numbed by the ordeal of losing loved ones they may never truly grieve at all.

It is one such person, trapped in a vast limbo between hurting and healing, that is the focus of Manchester By the Sea.

This superbly written and acted American drama extracts so many perfect moments from one man’s imperfect mourning process that it simply must be hailed as one of the best films you will see in 2017.

Lee (Casey Affleck) is a handyman by trade, and a loner by choice. As Manchester By the Sea begins, we immediately sense something sad happened to Lee some time in the past. Something that has widened and heightened his solitary nature.

The damaged majesty of Casey Affleck’s performance as Lee just has to be seen to be believed. Picture: Claire Folger

Then Lee gets a phone call. History could be about to repeat itself. His older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) has just had a heart attack.

By the time Lee completes the hour-or-so drive from Boston to his former hometown, Joe has passed away.

In a matter of hours, Lee has already begun the process of settling Joe’s affairs. He knows exactly what must be seen to, and in what order. Again, this serves as another signal that Lee has been in a similar situation before.

There is just one item that cannot be scratched off Lee’s to-do list: the immediate welfare of his teenage nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges).

Lucas Hedges, who plays Patrick, is nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in Manchester by the Sea. Picture: Claire Folger / Roadside Attractions and Amazon Studios via AP

The boy’s mother is still alive, but is not a reliable option to raise him. But then again, neither is Lee.

So what is it that triggered Lee’s self-imposed exile from the small coastal community of Manchester, and his relentless retreats from anyone who moves towards him?

Writer-director Kenneth Lonergan studiously leaks the emotional intelligence we need to fill in the case file of Lee’s troubled past at the exact moments it is required.

At first, there is just the occasional flashback. Then, at the midpoint of the movie, Lonergan lets go of everything he has been withholding from the viewer via a spellbinding, yet utterly heartbreaking sequence.

Though we now understand why Lee is continually disappearing in full view of everyone, the film masterfully proceeds to help us find where he may have gone inside his head.

If all of this stony-faced business suggests Manchester By the Sea is an experience out to grind you down into solemn submission, think again.

Get set to be sideswiped by sudden bursts of levity that can miraculously appear at the most seemingly morose of times.

In fact, the film can be laugh-out-loud funny when it wants to be, without ever neutralising the intensely intimate relationship it builds with an audience.

Capping off a singular movie experience is the damaged majesty of Casey Affleck’s performance as Lee.

There are a few remarkable, wordless scenes in the picture where Affleck’s character allows himself a glance at someone he would rather not see at all.

Kyle Chandler plays Casey Affleck’s brother Joe in a scene from the film Manchester By the Sea. Picture: Claire Folger

Then Lee remembers where he is, and where he would rather be. Such is life for a man who won’t hide behind his grief, if only because he has hidden it away from himself so well.

Originally published as Manchester by the Sea starring Casey Affleck is one of the best films you see this year