I am admittedly not someone who actively checks Facebook these days. Unlike my college years, I don’t feel the need to stay logged in as photos of friends babies, what people from my hometown ate for dinner and political rants grace my feed while the right hand rail fills up with shoes I’ve looked at on Nordstrom and are stalking me. But lately, I’ve been summoned back by the promise of new weekly long form content distributed on Facebook Watch – more specifically, the Elizabeth Olsen half hour drama Sorry for Your Loss.
As my declared Favorite Olsen™, when I saw “Lizzie” would be starring as a widow who tragically loses her husband at a young age, my interest was piqued. Since emerging on to the scene in 2011’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Olsen has given some truly stellar performances, positioning herself as an actress with the ability to cross genres. When you combine her presence with the chance to finally see Kelly Marie Tran (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) in a meatier role as Olsen’s addict sister going through her own journey? I’m in. And guess what? Despite my aversion to Facebook, if this series is any indication – we’re going to have to start paying attention to this new distributor.
Elizabeth Olsen, Kelly Marie Tran, and Janet McTeer in Sorry for Your Loss
Leigh Shaw is in mourning and completely numb. Its been three months since her husband Matt (Mamoudou Athie) has suddenly passed away. Unable to enter the home she shared with him, Leigh has been living with her single and very spiritual mother, Amy (Janet McTeer) and recovering addict sister, Jules (Tran) – all three working together at their family owned Pure Barre-esque studio, Beautiful Beast. As the story begins to unfold and Leigh continues to process her loss both in grief group (which she would prefer to not attend but there are donuts) and on her own, we see her life in snippets through cleverly inserted flashbacks – Leigh’s memories which provide us with an understanding of Matt, their relationship as a couple, and his position in their family.
“I hate how in the beginning everyone wants to send you flowers and donate to a foundation for your dead person. And then they stop calling and writing and doing nice things for you because they’re over it – and they expect you to be over it.”
As Leigh looks back on life with her husband, signs are revealed that Matt kept a part of his life private. A secret stash of weed in a boot, a credit card hidden in the freezer, a phone locked she doesn’t know the pass code to, a game played among friends that allude to Matt being a good liar. In putting the pieces together, she isn’t sure whether or not she knew him at all. But while Matt’s death sets Leigh on a course to unravel mysteries he’s left behind, in episode five our story takes a turn and suddenly, we see Matt’s point of view from the same moments Leigh has recalled. It’s only then we fully recognize his internal struggles and fears and understand Matt’s life with a level of clarity we don’t get entirely from Leigh’s perspective.
It’s important to mention that while the show focuses on Leigh, it’s not all about grieving and mourning. It’s about living and reclaiming your life. We see how the death of one person transforms relationships with other members of the family as well as friends — how death becomes a reflection on your own mortality leading to decisions to become sober, to get married, to pull the trigger on building a larger business, to making amends with loved ones or in some cases, not be ready to forgive.
“My sister’s in free-fall and she just needs some time to turn everything right-side up again.”
With an amazing DIVERSE cast and strong writing from first time showrunner Kit Steinkellner (Z: The Beginning of Everything), Sorry for Your Loss delivers truly memorable performances from not only Olsen (who should and likely will be recognized for this role, in my opinion), but Tran. I found myself consistently rooting for her as a reformed party girl trying to stay on the straight and narrow in the shadow of her sisters grief.
Elizabeth Olsen in Sorry for Your Loss
I do my best not to judge a series by its pilot – sometimes, it just takes an episode or two for a show to find its groove. But, I can honestly say this was a pilot I enjoyed and a series I’ve welcomed each week. If you’ve experienced loss or grief, this show will resonate. If you’re fortunate enough to have not yet experienced losing a loved one, Sorry for Your Loss is as insightful as it is beautiful, handling a multitude of difficult subjects with great care and thought. Stick with it.
While the series could have easily been a Netflix or HULU original or even a NEON, Annapurna, or A24 distributed indie given the quality of story, directing, and the cast, I think it’s time we look at Facebook Watch as a potentially formidable opponent to streaming services if they continue to acquire series like this. My only gripe? Currently, no app available to stream on your television. My hope is moving forward when more buzzed about content is available, this becomes a priority for the social media giant. If they want to play with big dogs Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and the yet-to-be-named Disney streaming service, they’d do right by consumers and make it easily accessible across devices.
With two new episodes slated to drop each Tuesday, the first six episodes of Sorry for Your Loss are now available to stream on Facebook Watch. Check it out.
MARISSA MONTICOLO 