Four Good Days Image

Four Good Days

By Lorry Kikta | April 30, 2020

NEW TO THEATERS. Okay, so seriously, can anyone even name a time where Glenn Close has been in a film and hasn’t given a fantastic performance? I didn’t think so. The harrowing film Four Good Days offers no exception to this role, as Close kills it in the role of a mother dealing with her child facing drug addiction. Mila Kunis, who is usually cast in comedic roles, blew me away as a woman in her 30’s battling heroin addiction.

Glenn Close plays Deb, mother of two adult daughters who should be enjoying her life with her second husband, Chris (played by the always amazing Stephen Root). Instead, one day she hears a knock on the door, and it is her daughter Molly. Molly had an injury when she was 17 and was prescribed Oxycontin, which led to over a decade long heroin addiction that truly ruined her life and didn’t make her mother’s life any easier either.

“Deb tells Molly not to come back until she gets clean but ends up caving and letting Molly come in, only so she can be taken to detox.”

Deb tells Molly not to come back until she gets clean but ends up caving and letting Molly come in, only so she can be taken to detox. Molly has entered into rehab 14 times previously, so it’s not surprising that Deb doesn’t take her plea for help very seriously. Not to mention that Molly has stolen money, jewelry, credit cards, guitars, and more from Deb and her husband. Still, Deb takes Molly to detox and picks her up when she is done.

Her doctor tells her that there is a new treatment, a shot that makes opioids ineffective in her system for thirty days. So if she takes the shot every month, she won’t be able to get high. The only trouble is, she still has drugs in her system and has to be clean for four more days until the treatment will work. Molly is going to spend those four days with her mother. What follows is an emotional gauntlet that most people wouldn’t have the strength to run through.

Close and Kunis’ performances in Four Good Days expertly explore the mother/daughter dynamic, particularly of those where the child is facing something as horrendous as beating drug addiction. The emotions run from love to hate to everything in between. We see how some of Deb’s behaviors aren’t exactly helpful when it comes to Molly’s recovery. We also see how neither mother nor daughter is perfect in any way, shape, or form.

Four Good Days (2020)

Directed: Rodrigo Garcia

Written: Eli Saslow, Rodrigo Garcia

Starring: Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Stephen Root , etc.

Movie score: 7/10

Four Good Days  Image

"…The most important message that Four Good Days can convey... is DON'T DO HEROIN!"

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  1. Derek Horne says:

    I completely agree with you, Lorry. I was the person in the third row of the Eccles theater that Sunday morning who jumped up to give it a standing ovation, and then looked around to realize that I was the only one. I don’t understand the other pod people without a heart that didn’t love this film. You can read my review here: https://www.filmink.com.au/sundance-blog-four-good-days/

  2. Andy says:

    I don’t understand the score given, 6/10. The reviewer seemed to appreciate the film (“enjoy” might be hard, given the subject), with no obvious negative criticism, yet the score indicates this is mediocre.

    • Lorry Kikta says:

      That was honestly a typo which I changed just now, so thank you for leaving that comment or else I wouldn’t have caught it. When we’re at Sundance, we’re seeing so many movies a day and then spend the night writing reviews and it can be a little mind-melting.

  3. Dr Utsab Das says:

    Will Glenn win an Oscar finally

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