Film Review: THE THING WITH FEATHERS
by Karen Pecota

Dylan Southern, UK 2025

Based on the novel “Grief is the Thing with Feathers” by Max Porter, filmmaker Dylan Southern writes and directs a narrative about grief with an attempt to crack the norms of how one is traditionally taught to process death and loss in THE THING WITH FEATHERS. Unabashedly Southern takes on a very difficult task to illuminate Porter’s story visually. Admittedly, it’s not easy to grasp. It’s confusing at times; but is grief any easier to experience?

Southern says, “The book is unapologetically unsentimental about death and loss, it is abrasive, tender, violent, funny, kind, not to mention ridiculous in places.” Adding, “With this adaptation, my ambition and priority was to find a cinematic language that would hopefully achieve something close to what Max [Porter] achieved on the page.”

Porter uses a huge black feathered crow that acts sometimes as a real being, and sometimes as an imaginary creature but attempts to help the family--a dad (Benedict Cumberbatch), and his two young sons (Henry Boxall and Richard Boxall)—to deal with the loss of their wife/mother. This idea is a unique perspective of how overwhelming grief can be, as well as its omnipresence that one has a hard time shaking simply to have an emotional break—of comfort or peace.

Southern admits that the book was not easy to adapt but with the support of Porter through the filming, the two are proud of their collaboration. He notes, “This is a film that traverses tone; it’s scary, it’s violent, it’s tender, it’s silly, it can be heartbreaking, but ultimately it’s hopeful.” Continuing, “It manages to say something honest about the power of love over the devastation of loss.”

To gain the full impact of THE THING WITH FEATHERS, one must be prepared to look at grief in a different way to understand both artists, Porter and Southern, showcasing their uncanny perspective that grief is a genuine part of acknowledging loss. The acceptance of one’s loss in death, then gives way to the choices one makes to move forward; and every person will have a different path to follow.