Having taken a leading role in The Holiday, released nearly two decades ago, Kate Winslet is no stranger to the festive blockbuster. However, it still came as quite a surprise to learn that her directorial debut would be a Netflix Christmas movie. In recent years, the streaming service’s seasonal delights have involved royal romances, a snowman magically brought to life and an heiress with ski-accident-induced amnesia played by Lindsay Lohan. Don’t get us wrong, we are all for this genre of Christmas cheese (all hail the Hallmark channel), but Kate Winslet’s new film looks to be rather different.
What is the plot of Goodbye June?
The first screenplay written by Joe Anders – aka Joe Winslet Mendes, son of Kate Winslet and director Sam Mendes – it will be a family affair both on and off screen. Goodbye June tells the story of four adult siblings and their exasperating father reunited for the festive season when the health of their mother, June, takes an unexpected turn for the worse. As she orchestrates her decline on her own terms, with humour and honesty, the siblings and their father are forced to navigate their tricky family dynamics and the chaos of the Christmas period. So not your standard reunion of high-school sweethearts in a small American town, but something much grittier, wittier and a great deal more relatable for most of us watching at home.
Who is starring in Goodbye June?
As well as directing the film and producing alongside Kate Solomon (who she worked with on Lee), Kate Winslet will also be starring in the new drama as Julia, one of the four siblings. She will be joined by Toni Collette (About a Boy, Knives Out), Johnny Flynn (Emma, Ripley) and Andrea Riseborough (Brighton Rock, To Leslie). Matriarch June will be played by the indomitable Helen Mirren while Timothy Spall takes on the role of the challenging father of the family. With Stephen Merchant, Fisayo Akinade, Jeremy Swift and Raza Jaffrey also among the cast, Goodbye June seems unlikely to disappoint on the acting front.
When will Goodbye June be released?
The film will be released in selected cinemas in the US and the UK on December 12, before its premiere on Netflix on Christmas Eve, December 24 – in time for you and your family to gather round the TV and watch familiar tensions played out on screen… You never know, it might just end up bringing everyone together in time for the big day.
