WINSLET WEEPFEST

CHRISTMAS is a time for spending time with relatives and Oscar-winner Kate Winslet keeps her emotionally wrought feature directorial debut in the family, wringing tears from a powerhouse cast using a script written by her 21-year-old son Joe Anders.

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Keep hankies tucked up sleeves because the saltwater quotient becomes a torrent in a second hour punctuated by overly tidy scenes of forgiveness and self-reflection.

Terminally ill matriarch June (Helen Mirren) collapses waiting for the kettle to boil and her live-at-home son Connor (Johnny Flynn) calls for an ambulance.

She is rushed into surgery at the local hospital while Connor cares for his beleaguered father, Bernie (Timothy Spall), and sounds the alarm to his sisters Julia (Kate Winslet) and Molly (Andrea Riseborough).