Film
The Long Goodbye: The Kara Tippetts Story
A documentary portrait of Kara Tippetts, a pastor's wife and author facing terminal cancer, who confronts mortality with remarkable grace and humor. It's a film about love, legacy, and the everyday miracles we overlook—tender without sentimentality, honest about suffering without wallowing in it. For anyone grappling with loss, faith, or what matters most.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you want a patient, faith-soaked portrait of living well through terminal illness, and you can sit with a mother's own words about her children without needing the story to surprise you.
Skip it if you want plot, distance or a lighter tone, since this is reflective, returns often to faith and mortality, and rarely steps back from its devotional center.
What it asks of you: It moves at the pace of an ordinary day, mostly reflective voice and quiet stillness, so it asks you to settle in and let it accumulate rather than be entertained.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Farewell2019
A family gathers as a matriarch faces her end, exploring how we say goodbye and what we leave unsaid. Balances grief with genuine humor—exactly Kara's approach to her own story.
But The cultural specificity means some emotional beats land differently depending on your background. Some find the pacing slow.
Still Alice2014
A woman confronts her identity as Alzheimer's takes hold, forcing those who love her to reckon with what remains. A quiet, unflinching look at dignity in decline that mirrors Kara's composure.
But The inevitability of it can feel relentless. Julianne Moore's performance is so raw it's sometimes hard to stay present.
Life Itself2014
Roger Ebert's final essay about confronting mortality, voiced by the man himself. It's about loving life so fiercely that dying feels less like an ending than a completion.
But At 40 minutes, it's less film than extended reflection. Some find its literary approach detached rather than moving.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Long Goodbye: The Kara Tippetts Story
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
A Dark Song2016
Both insist that grief and faith aren't solvable problems but territories you inhabit. Both allow for strangeness and mystery rather than closure. Both trust the viewer to find their own meaning.
A grieving woman hires an occultist for a spiritual ritual across a long, strange winter. It sounds like fantasy but it's actually about consolation—what we need to believe to survive loss. Unsettling and beautiful.
But Deliberately weird and slow-burn. The genre trappings won't appeal to everyone. Some find it precious; others find it profound. Very little plot—mostly atmosphere and two people talking.
More like this (4)
Dark Days2000
An unflinching look at homeless men living in NYC tunnels. Finds dignity and humor in impossible circumstances—a parallel meditation on what we retain when everything is stripped away.
But Extremely austere black-and-white cinematography. The subject matter is bleak and the film offers no resolution, only witness.
Kodachrome2017
A man and his ailing father drive to close a legendary photo lab forever. Small, personal, about the conversations we finally have and the time we didn't spend together.
But Deliberately quiet and unglamorous. If you want catharsis or major revelation, this gentle approach may feel slight.
The Road2009
A father and son traverse a post-apocalyptic wasteland held together only by love. Bleak, yes—but Cormac McCarthy's vision of devotion transcending despair is worth the weight.
But Relentlessly grim. No lightness, no humor, no reprieve. The bleakness is the point, which won't resonate with everyone.
The Last Station2009
Tolstoy's final chapter—wrestling with legacy, faith, and whether a life lived means anything. A grand historical film that asks the same questions Kara's story poses.
But Period-piece pacing drags for some. The ensemble cast can feel scattered, and it's very long for a character study.
