A family gathers to honor the memory of their journalist son, Leo Frankel, who was killed in Iraq the previous year. They are confronted with old hurts, as well as dark secrets, that threaten to tear the fragile threads holding the family together in Damon Shalit’s engaging and emotionally-charged film, The World Without You.
This engaging and emotionally-charged film takes a close look at how the loss of a loved one triggers old wounds and shares how each person uniquely experiences the mourning process and ultimately finds forgiveness, particularly in a family.
The World Without You is widely available On-Demand, November 1, 2020.
Starring Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill, Man on Fire), Perrey Reeves (Entourage, Old School), P.J. Byrne (Big Little Lies, The Wolf of Wall Street), Chris Mulkey (Captain Phillips, On The Basis of Sex), James Tupper (Big Little Lies, Me and Orson Welles), Suzanne C. Johnson (Empty Space, Another Yesterday), Annika Marks (The Fosters, Waco), Lyndie Greenwood (Nikita, Sleepy Hollow), Joel Reitsma (Fargo, Chicago Fire) and Lynn Cohen (Sex and The City, Law and Order), The World Without You premiered at Dances With Film Festival and is selected for the 2020 La Femme Festival (https://www.lafemme.org/).
Synopsis:
A family gathers to honor the memory of their journalist son, Leo Frankel (Joel Reitsma), who was killed in Iraq the previous year. Confronted with old hurts and dark secrets, the fragile threads holding the family together threaten to dissolve.
Leo’s mother, Marilyn (Suzanne C. Johnson), entrenched in grief, drops a bomb when she announces she and her husband, David (Chris Mulkey), are separating. David has moved on from mourning yet still holds a grudge against his son for going to Iraq, leaving his wife and toddler behind.
Meanwhile, Leo’s widow, Thisbe (Lyndie Greenwood), struggles to come to terms with how falling in love with a new man will change her dynamic with the family. Personal quarrels and long-held animosity between Leo’s siblings plague the family, only being intensified by his memorial. At the same time, his sister, Noelle (Annika Marks), struggles with a secret that could further tear their family apart.
Will this dysfunctional-family reunion bring them closer together or drive them further apart?
“There have been many films that deal with death and its immediate repercussions, but few that show the carnage left behind a year later,” says star and producer Suzanne C. Johnson. “I hope the audience connects to this story as profoundly as I did.”
“The World Without You is an incredibly moving film that many will feel they can relate to,” says Legacy Distribution Managing Director/CEO Dana Webber. “With the death of a loved one, tensions arise as family members all experience the process of mourning differently. We are honored to be releasing this important film”.