Hillbilly Elegy (2020) review

I think this film contextualizes generational trauma and how it can create toxic mothers. They are not necessarily born that way. They are shaped by circumstances, upbringing, addiction, poverty, and wounds passed down from one generation to another gradually shaped her. It does not excuse their behavior, but at least it shows where some of it comes from. Amy Adams’ range here is incredible. She feels like she is playing the kind of weathered, volatile working class mother role I would usually associate with actresses like Toni Collete or Laura Linney. Seeing Amy Adams completely strip away the polished image I usually associate with her and become this unstable, exhausted, unpredictable mother genuinely surprised me. This also shows how much you can tolerate from the adults in your own family just because they are family. At what point do you keep helping someone, and at what point do you protect yourself from them? At the same time, it shows how much grandparents are sometimes willing to sacrifice for their own children and their grandchildren. Sometimes they end up carrying responsibilities they thought they had already finished decades ago. Not gonna lie, I struggled to watch this in one sitting. But the whole family dynamic kept me wondering what was going to happen next. I think this film is actually full of heart if you can separate it from whatever political prejudice you may already have surrounding it. This might bore some people, but honestly, dysfunctional families, toxic parents, sacrifice, generational trauma, and grandparents stepping in to raise children are basically themes we have been watching in Filipino teleseryes and films for decades. Watched on Netflix.