Film

Ethel & Ernest

Name: Ethel & Ernest
Genre: Animation, Drama, War, History
Released: 2016
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Brenda Blethyn, Luke Treadaway, Roger Allam, Virginia McKenna

Drama

A hand-drawn animated portrait of an ordinary London couple's life across the twentieth century, from courtship through war, parenthood, and old age. Tender and unsentimental, it finds profound humanity in quiet moments—cups of tea, small disagreements, shared silences. A film about how love persists through history's upheaval, made with genuine affection for its subjects.

TMDb rating

3.8

If you liked this

Grave of the Fireflies1988

An animated meditation on war's devastation told through two siblings' daily survival. Like Ethel & Ernest, it finds the enormous cost in intimate, ordinary details rather than spectacle or heroics.

But Relentlessly bleak and heartbreaking. Not cathartic—it simply hurts, which is the point, but emotionally exhausting to watch.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel2012

A warm ensemble film about aging, memory, and finding purpose in later life. Shares Ethel & Ernest's refusal to dismiss the elderly as irrelevant, and its gentle humour about companionship.

But Feels very much like a film made for a particular demographic. Some will find it safe and mildly sentimental rather than genuinely moving.

A Man Called Ove2015

A grumpy older man's life unfolds through flashbacks to reveal how love shaped him. Quiet, observant, and funny about marriage, loss, and what makes a life meaningful. Ethel & Ernest's British cousin.

But The plot mechanics are fairly predictable. If you've seen the trailer, you know the shape of what's coming and when.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Ethel & Ernest

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya2013

Both use animation's unique capacity to capture intimacy and aging with tenderness. Animation allows something more honest than live-action about the texture of ordinary life lived together across decades.

Studio Ghibli's final feature, a hand-drawn masterpiece about aging, sacrifice, and a mother's love for a daughter who isn't quite hers. Like Ethel & Ernest, it finds extraordinary emotional depth in animation's ability to linger on small, expressive moments. Both are about time's passage and what endures.

But Gorgeously slow and introspective. The plot is slight; it's entirely a meditation. Some find it frustratingly abstract, especially compared to Ghibli's narrative-driven films.

Still Life2006

A spare, deeply humanist British film about a council worker tracking down relatives of the deceased. Finds dignity and connection in bureaucracy and solitude. Similarly small in scale but enormous in feeling.

But Almost plotless. Long stretches without dialogue. Requires patience and willingness to find emotion in absence.

The Straight Story1999

David Lynch's only G-rated film: an old man's slow journey by lawnmower to reconcile with his brother. Radically gentle and sincere about aging, regret, and forgiveness. No tricks, just presence.

But If you want narrative momentum or conventional drama, this will feel glacial and deliberately frustrating. It's entirely about the ride, not the destination.

Departures2008

A Japanese film about a man who becomes a preparer of the dead, finding unexpected beauty and ritual in tending to the recently deceased. Philosophically deep about mortality, family, and what we leave behind.

But Subtitled, and deals with death and grief unflinchingly. The pacing is deliberate and meditative, not comforting. Requires emotional openness.

About Schmidt2002

Jack Nicholson as a newly retired man confronting marriage, mortality, and regret. Sharp and unsentimental, it refuses easy answers about whether a life well-lived is actually well-lived. Cringe-funny and genuinely sad.

But Nicholson's character is often difficult and self-absorbed. The humour depends on uncomfortable empathy rather than likability. Some find it more cold than honest.

Mavis!2015

A documentary about Mavis Staples, with animated sequences integrating her life story with music. Celebratory, joyful, and unafraid of deep emotion. Similar warmth and specificity in capturing a life across decades.

But Very specifically American gospel and soul history. If that context is unfamiliar, some of its significance may not land. Not a conventional biopic.

Mulholland Drive2001

Both are films that treat their central relationship as the only thing that matters, refusing to explain or sentimentalise it. One is linear warmth; the other is fractured anguish. Same emotional core, opposite in execution.

David Lynch's fractured Hollywood nightmare disguised as a love story. Structurally opposite to Ethel & Ernest—nonlinear, dreamlike, full of unsettling ruptures—but equally obsessed with how love persists, transforms, and ultimately breaks beneath the weight of reality and desire.

But Deliberately disorienting and ultimately bleak. It resists coherence. You will leave confused, and Lynch doesn't care if that frustrates you. Not for viewers seeking clarity or comfort.