“When I read it, I didn't think it was a Christmas movie”, Timothy Spall, who plays the family patriarch, told Zavvi. “It has Christmas in it, but it really didn’t occur to me that this alone would make it a Christmas movie – it's an investigation of a family not in the right place, whose relationships are being adjusted in orchestrated ways by a character on their deathbed.
“It’s a rocky road for all of them, but that allows the film to find avenues of comedy in something that’s not supposed to be funny, as inappropriate things happen at moments of great profundity. It’s not a festival of misery; it has that balance of comedy and tragedy.”
Winslet stars alongside Toni Collette, Andrea Riseborough and Johnny Flynn as the grown-up siblings reuniting in an NHS ward after their aging mother (Helen Mirren) is admitted after a nasty fall. Already far along in her battle with cancer, it becomes clear that there are only a few weeks of her terminal diagnosis left – something the family must come to terms with whilst also repairing their own disjointed relationships.
The prime Christmas release slot means that a lot of eyeballs will be on Winslet’s film during the festive season, a hard time for many families battling through similar situations. It makes Goodbye June a tough sell for many, although Collette thinks it will also be the most rewarding to those viewers scared off by the premise.
“The matriarch of the family is dying, there’s no denying it”, she told Zavvi. “But I think the film isn’t about death so much as it is about the rest of the family coming together in the most loving, supporting way at the time of a great challenge.
“This happens to everybody at some point in its own unique way, and I think the way this family handles it even surprises them! It’s a story about love and connection more than anything, which is the most uplifting, beautiful element of this film.”
Collette is one of the few cast members to have not worked with Winslet previously, although she knew the day was always going to arrive – now that they have worked together, she laughs that “I’ll be calling her first if I don’t hear back again!”
“I’d always wanted to work with her, and I heard she’d said the same about me. We’d never met, but we have a mutual friend who has always passed messages between us, so it’s like we’ve been living parallel lives – I felt like I did know her before I’d even talked to her.
“When we did finally talk about doing this and becoming sisters onscreen, I was blown away that she asked, especially because she was directing. It felt like a real honour.
“It felt inevitable that we’d work together, but that it was her first time directing made it the most magical experience; it’s a much bigger deal that she wants you to be part of it. I’m still pinching myself, as I love her so much.”
Riseborough has collaborated with Winslet more than the others recently; she appeared in her 2023 war biopic Lee, and in a supporting role in HBO series The Regime. It was still a surprise to the actress that she was approached to star as one of her sisters in her directorial debut though.
“We've worked together a lot now”, Riseborough told Zavvi. “I was so heartened to hear that she wanted to work with me, especially now that our dynamic feels so familiar and natural.
“She’s an incredibly inspiring person, powerful and driven in all the best ways, motivated by telling stories that are lasting – a true artist who always has her eye on how the story should be told. She never shies away from reflecting dysfunction, which is why I think this feels so familiar; the dysfunctional dynamics she wants to explore are what makes this film so universal.
“This story is about so many things, but mostly it's so healing and hopeful. Full of new life as much as it is about contending with the past."
Spall hadn’t worked with Winslet for nearly 30 years, when they starred together in Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation of Hamlet; he was Rosencrantz and she was Ophelia.
“She was 20 when we filmed, and when she walked in the room for the first time, I thought this was an impressive person. And I’ve just become an even bigger fan since then – she’s one of the best actresses in the world, who has worked with some of the best directors, and now she’s one of the best directors out of all of them!”
The screenplay for Goodbye June, written by Winslet’s son Joe Anders, was heavily inspired by the works of Mike Leigh – particularly Secrets and Lies, one of Spall’s several collaborations with the legendary filmmaker. Leigh has a different approach to storytelling, starting without a script and finding the story with his actors, but Spall sees parallels in both directors’ thematic interests.
“The process of working with Mike is very different – it’s a very long period of finding your character before you start filming. But what he recognises is the same as Kate, that there’s a universal truth between comedy and tragedy, and that both can mix in a way where you don’t know whether you’re watching a drama or a comedy.
“This story grows out of the profundity of natural existence, finding that truth between families, and humour in things that aren’t necessarily gags.”
Goodbye June is in select UK cinemas now, and streaming on Netflix from Wednesday, 24th December.
