The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014)

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them is special because it treats grief not as a plot device, but as a shifting weather system—quiet, relentless, and different depending on where you’re standing. Ned Benson’s New York feels lived-in and hushed, and the film’s power comes from watching Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy play two people who still love each other but can’t quite reach the same emotional language anymore. It’s a mournful, intimate drama that finds originality in perspective and restraint, letting small gestures and silences do the heavy lifting until the feelings land with real weight. If you’re looking for neat answers or cathartic melodrama, it may feel too subdued, but if you want beautifully acted, adult storytelling that sits with the hard stuff honestly, it’s quietly devastating in the best way.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them is aiming for an intimate, adult look at grief and a marriage coming apart, using a two-perspective concept reshaped into one linear cut. The problem is that in this combined version, the very thing that made the project intriguing can feel diluted: key emotional beats are withheld or smoothed over, so the story can come off more distant than devastating. If you want a clear, deeply probing relationship drama that earns its catharsis, this may feel a bit hollow and frustratingly opaque. Still, Chastain and McAvoy do strong, restrained work, and if you’re patient with quiet, moody scenes that prioritize atmosphere over answers, you’ll find moments that land.