Watched it last night and it blew me away. The acting was superb but I think it was the cleverness of how it was done that made it so... special?
Special feels like the wrong word in the context, but hopefully you know what I mean.
I only knew very briefly what it was about and considered avoiding it because I'm one of the main carers for my own father who has dementia, and I thought it would just be too heartbreaking to watch. Too close to home.
I finished thinking it's maybe one of the best films I've ever seen on so many levels. It gave me such an insight into how he was experiencing things a few years ago, and brought back memories of what my gut always wants to describe as happier times. I realise that might sound absolutely absurd - bear with me - but Anthony still seemed to be Anthony to an extent for a lot of it whereas we are beyond that stage now. My DF is gone, a shell almost. Seeing Anthony's moments of trying to hide his confusion, or talk about his other daughter as if she was still alive, or even at the end when he was talking about his mum as if he were a child - they all reminded me of the times when my dad was still my dad.
But the film has almost made me realise that's a bit selfish of me and now I feel like I can actually make peace with things. Anthony's experience, with him still being Anthony, was just awful for him. Whereas now my DF has almost entirely lost himself, I believe he's actually much more at peace. I think I would rather be a friendly stranger who is kind to him than 'his daughter' who he believes is his dead sister years ago, if that makes any sense.