''What They Had'' is a 2018 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by Elizabeth Chomko in her feature directorial debut. Starring

Hilary Swank Hilary Ann Swank (born July 30, 1974) is an American actress and film producer. She first became known in 1992 for her role on the television series '' Camp Wilder'' and made her film debut with a minor role in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (19 ...

Michael Shannon Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor. Shannon received two Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations, for '' Revolutionary Road'' (2008), and '' Nocturnal Animals'' (2016). He received Screen Actors Guil ...

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Foster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019), known professionally as Robert Forster, was an American actor. He made his screen debut as Private L.G. Williams in John Huston's '' Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967), followed ...

Blythe Danner Blythe Katherine Danner (born February 3, 1943) is an American actress. Accolades she has received include two Primetime Emmy Awards for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Best Supporting Actress in a Dra ...

Taissa Farmiga Taissa Farmiga ( ; born August 17, 1994) is an American actress. Her numerous appearances in horror films have established her as a scream queen, alongside her older sister Vera Farmiga. Farmiga was encouraged to begin acting by her sister ...

, and Josh Lucas, the film follows two siblings in conflict with their father over whether or not to put their mother, who suffers from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, in a nursing home. The film premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

on January 21, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 19, 2018, by

Bleecker Street Bleecker Street is an east–west street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightlife, nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood popular today for music venues and comedy as well as a ...

Plot

When Alzheimer's-stricken Ruth Everhardt wanders into the streets during a blizzard on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

, her daughter, Bridget Ertz, travels back to her hometown to help her brother, Nicky, convince their father, Norbert, to put Ruth in a nursing home and face the end of their life together. Ruth returns home with her family and discussions ensue about her future. Nicky has secured a spot for Ruth in one of the premiere assisted care facilities in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, yet Norbert insists that he alone can provide the best care for her. Nicky looks to Bridget for help, but her time away from her parents makes this a challenge to address. Bridget is dealing with her own immediate family issues as she's never connected with her husband, Eddie, while her daughter, Emma, suffers from anxiety and has stopped attending college. Nicky continues arguing with Norbert over Ruth's future and leaves afterwards. Bridget discusses her father's interference in her life just as they notice that Ruth has again disappeared. She is quickly found, but Norbert finally realizes that Ruth must leave for the assisted care facility. Norbert reconciles with Nicky by visiting his tavern. Shortly thereafter, Norbert dies from a heart attack, leaving Nicky devastated. Bridget spends time with Ruth at the care facility and sees how well the staff are treating her. She leaves the facility with a restful smile on her face.

Cast

as Bridget "Bitty" Ertz *

as Nicholas "Nicky" Everhardt *

as Norbert Everhardt *

as Ruth Everhardt (née O'Shea) *

as Emma Ertz * Josh Lucas as Eddie Ertz *

Sarah Sutherland Sarah Sutherland (born February 18, 1988) is a Canadian-American actress, best known for her role as Catherine Meyer in ''Veep''. Early life, family and education Sutherland was born in Los Angeles to actor Kiefer Sutherland and his first wife ...

as Mary *

Aimee Garcia Aimee Sandimés Garcia López de Ordóñez (born November 28, 1978) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles as Veronica Palmero on the ABC sitcom '' George Lopez'' (2006–2007), Jamie Batista on the Showtime drama '' D ...

as Dr. Zoe * Jay Montepare as David * Jennifer Robideau as Rachel

Production

Development

In 2014, Elizabeth Chomko was selected for the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...

's Screenwriters Lab with a script for the drama film ''What They Had''. In September 2015, Chomko's script was announced as a winner for the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. In June 2016, Chomko revealed she would also direct the film from her screenplay. Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa were later reported to produce for Bona Fide Productions, along with Bill Holderman, and Andrew Duncan and Alex Saks producing for June Pictures, and Keith Kjarval producing for Unified Pictures.

Casting

On March 17, 2017, it was reported that

, and

had been cast in the film.

's casting was confirmed in August 2017.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on March 22, 2017 in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. On March 28, members of the Amboy

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

performed a graveside service for a scene in the film on location in

Westchester, Illinois Westchester is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 16,892 at the 2020 census. History The area now known as Westchester was occupied by German farmers beginning in the mid-19th ...

. Conboy Westchester Funeral Home also hosted the cast and crew for filming on March 28. Production was set up in

Hyde Park, Chicago Hyde Park is a neighborhood on the South Side, Chicago, South Side of Chicago, Illinois, located on and near the shore of Lake Michigan south of Chicago Loop, the Loop. It is one of the city's 77 community areas of Chicago, community areas. ...

for more than two weeks, concluding on April 17. Filming wrapped in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on May 2, 2017.

Music

In December 2017, it was reported that Danny Mulhern would compose the film's

score SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

. The end credit song "Are You There" is written by Aoife O'Donovan, the film's writer and director Elizabeth Chomko and her mother Kate Chomko.

Release

In May 2017,

acquired domestic distribution rights to the film. It had its world premiere at the

on January 21, 2018. ''What They Had'' was initially scheduled for release on March 16, 2018, but was pushed back to October 19, 2018.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

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, the film has an approval rating of 87% based on 119 reviews, with an average of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''What They Had'' finds laughter and tears in its portrait of a family at a crossroads, with writer-director Elizabeth Chomko getting outstanding performances out of a talented cast."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * {{AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Grownup Love Story 2018 drama films 2018 films American drama films Bleecker Street films 2018 directorial debut films 2018 independent films American films about Alzheimer's disease Films set in Chicago Films shot in Chicago Films shot in Los Angeles 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language drama films English-language independent films