Manchester by the Sea—A story of grief that never heals.

Loss is a strange phenomenon. Some people overcome it, rising from the depths of despair, whereas for some it becomes a festering wound that never heals. Manchester by the Sea is a story about the latter, not of redemption or healing. Instead, it is a heartbreaking depiction of a man weighed down by his past, which he can't escape but is forced to reconcile with.

Directed by Kenneth Lonergan and starring the nuanced Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler, this film follows the story of a distant janitor, Lee Chandler, living in the bleak and cold town of Quincy, Massachusetts. Lee moves through life as if he is on autopilot, suppressing his emotions and avoiding any meaningful connections. When his older brother, Joe, passes away, Lee is made to confront his past and has to return to his hometown of Manchester by the Sea, which he has been avoiding for years, to make funeral arrangements. This simple task becomes way more complicated and devastating when it is revealed to him that Joe has made him the legal guardian of his teenage nephew, Patrick. Making him reluctantly step into a fatherly role.

From the beginning, something feels strange about Lee.When spoken to he responds with short sentences,avoiding eye contact and with a hostile demeanor.His temper flares unpredictably which also leads him to engage in unnecessary bar-fights.He isn't just a quiet and distant man; he is someone who carries the unbearable weight of his agonizing past. As the film unfolds, we slowly get to know about the tragedy that shaped him through the seamlessly linked flashbacks.

Soon we discover that Lee wasn't always this way; he was a devoted father and husband. His home was filled with laughter, and he had a loving family until a single soul-crushing moment took away everything from him and permanently altered him. The more we learn about the past, the more we realize that he isn't just grieving but is haunted by guilt.

One of the film's strengths is its refusal to stick to typical Hollywood storytelling, where the protagonist finds closure and emerges as a changed person in the end. Life doesn't work that way; some people just have to exist painfully along thier grief. The movie portrays grief in its most authentic and raw form.

The conversation between Lee and his ex-wife, Randi, is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the movie. Lee's ex-wife, who has found her way to move on with her life, reaches out to him and expresses her feelings of regret and sorrow. Lee, despite feeling the same, can't accept her compassion. "I can't beat it,"he says, a simple line that neatly summarizes the entire film.

Lee's relationship with Patrick is also an integral part of the story. Patrick, a teenage boy, is also grieving the death of his father but is also trying to enjoy playing in a band, handling relationships, and cracking jokes. On the contrary, Lee is unable to move on and imagine his future. Their dynamic creates some very wholesome moments. Lee doesn't transform into the fatherly figure Patrick needs but is flawed in his own way. He knows that Patrick deserves someone better. So, instead of forcing an unrealistic solution, the film accepts the truth. Sometimes, love is not enough to fix a person.

When the credits rolled, I found myself sitting in silence waiting for an answer, which never came. But that's the beauty of the film. It teaches you that life doesn't always give you what you want. For me, the film is a reminder that some wounds never heal and not every story ends with a redemption. Sometimes moving forward just means accepting the past. It's heartbreaking, but honest. There is something strangely comforting about it. Contrary to the popular belief that says to move on and heal, Manchester-by-the-Sea says that sometimes you don't, and that's okay too.