Oscar-nominated Manchester by the Sea paints powerful portrayal of despair [Review]

American drama Manchester by the Sea is striking for several reasons; namely because it doesn’t feel like a movie at all. Instead, it feels more like a glimpse at someone else’s life. Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a handyman who manages a building in Boston. His life is simple if a little grim, but his steady routine is thrown into chaos as he learns that his brother has died, and he is now the sole guardian of his 16-year-old nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges).

Lee isn’t thrilled about this, and being forced back to his hometown to face people from his past makes things even harder. Both men handle the grief of losing their brother and father respectively in different ways. Lee becomes even more solitary, shunning all contact with the outside world, while Patrick embraces human contact and thrives on social interaction.