Nathan Deming’s Winter Hymns takes place entirely in one hospital room. It’s a film about the conversations most of us spend our whole lives avoiding — and what happens when a doctor is required to listen.
Dr. Linda Vobernik (Colleen Madden) is a palliative care physician working at a small Wisconsin hospital. On this cold winter day, her schedule is full as patients and their families file into her office one by one. First is a farmer who has worked the land his whole life — on paper a wealthy man, but one who feels like a burden to his children and can’t accept that his body is giving out. An English teacher who spent decades inspiring her students has lived long enough to find, surprisingly, that death doesn’t scare her. A young man with stomach cancer sits alone in the room, quietly wondering what the end will feel like. Helping Dr. Vobernik is her junior colleague Eddy (Marcus Daniels), and together they move through the day, patient by patient, hour by hour.
Each conversation has its own background and set of complications. A daughter, Anne Marie (Ericka Kreutz), is stretched to her limit caring for her mother, Marty (Flora Coker), who has advanced dementia. The stress and frustrations reach a breaking point right there in that room. A priest named Father Greg (Chiké Johnson) arrives with his own complicated relationship with God — unsure of what lies ahead, but certain he needs someone to listen. A father, who has always found it difficult to express his feelings, reads a loving letter to his daughters as best he can. The room doesn’t change. The quilt on the wall doesn’t change. What changes is everyone who walks through the door.
Through it all, Dr. Vobernik simply listens. That’s mostly what the job requires — listening to the things people will never say to friends and family, sitting with questions she can’t always answer, and laying out options that families desperately wish she’d just decide for them. The stoic Vobernik carries the weight of each visit internally in a way that no one will ever understand and will definitely take for granted. By the time she’s ready to call it a day, she has heard it all: fear, acceptance, grief, love, and the occasional flash of something that might be peace.
“By the time she’s ready to call it a day, she has heard it all: fear, acceptance, grief, love, and the occasional flash of something that might be peace.”
This film, for me, hits a bit close to home. I’m at a point in my life where I understand all too well what palliative care is. I’ve had family members die suddenly. It’s the ones who are dying slowly who make decisions all too difficult. It makes emotions and feelings about that person and your relationship to that person far too complicated to comprehend.
As you can see, Winter Hymns tackles very serious subjects. It goes through the spectrum of end-of-life care and gives you moments where, if you’re in the situation, you can relate to what is being portrayed on screen. If you feel like you’re heading there yourself, the film quietly reminds you that you’re not alone.
I can’t tell you enough how important this film is. Winter Hymns amazingly goes for authenticity. Everything feels real, almost too real. In the end, the film’s subject matter is heavy, and it should be, because most of us will probably find ourselves in this situation, whether we are the ones dying or the ones caring for someone who is.
Lastly, the performances in Winter Hymns are incredible. Colleen Madden carries the emotional weight as Dr. Linda Vobernik. She’s the one who needs to be the steady rock and foundation for every patient, even as the very foundation beneath her in her personal life is crumbling.
From there, each of the patients, or the actors portraying them, is equally incredible. They come from diverse backgrounds and varying levels of experience in end-of-life care. At no time does the film feel like a drama, but it definitely feels like a documentary all throughout.
At nearly three hours, Winter Hymns may not feel like an easy watch — but it’s an essential one. Whether you are going through this or not, the film will stay with you long after you’ve left the room. Nathan Deming has made a movie about death that feels like an act of compassion toward the living.
For screening information, visit the Winter Hymns official website.
"…a movie about death that feels like an act of compassion toward the living."
