‘Goodbye June’ sits firmly in the tradition of British ensemble dramas about families in crisis. There are clear shades of Mike Leigh here in the portrait of a dysfunctional family forced back together, but the film it most closely recalls is ‘The Family Stone’ – that great Christmas drama where a dying matriarch becomes, paradoxically, the source of healing for a family otherwise expert at judging one another but far less skilled at empathy.

Set largely in a hospital in Cheltenham, the film centres on June, played with quiet authority by Helen Mirren. She is terminally ill and fully aware that her time is limited. Her husband, played by Timothy Spall, is present but emotionally distant, nursing both physical and psychological wounds that leave him strangely disengaged as the family gathers at June’s bedside. The stated aim is to make her final days as manageable and dignified as possible, but what unfolds instead is a slow unravelling of long-standing resentments and unresolved tensions.

June, however, is under no illusions. She understands that her role now is not just to die well, but to do what she can – however imperfectly – to leave her family in a better place than the one she will be leaving behind. That task is far from straightforward, particularly when Andrea Riseborough’s character enters the frame. She brings with her a sharp, often cruel edge, but as the film progresses we begin to understand the roots of her anger, and the damage that has shaped it.

If ever there were a film built around a transformation arc, this is it. Slowly – and not without resistance – the family begins to soften, reconnect, and recognise their shared grief. It’s a familiar dramatic pattern, but one that remains effective, echoing everything from ‘Die Hard’ to ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, where crisis becomes the catalyst for emotional reckoning.

Adding to this is the presence of a nurse called Angel (Fisayo Akinade) – symbolism that is anything but subtle. He functions almost as a counsellor or facilitator, gently guiding the family back toward one another, reminding them of the care, patience, and listening they’ve long withheld from each other.

‘Goodbye June’ may not reinvent the genre, but it’s a well-acted, emotionally literate drama that understands how endings can also be beginnings – and how, sometimes, the work of healing only truly begins when someone is preparing to let go.