I’ve always loved positive vibed movies! One of my all-time favorite movies is “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Ever since I’ve watched the movie, I wished there was an equally good movie with a similar storyline or emotional feel to it, Doing what you always loved, working on your passion and achieving your dreams kinda movie!

And then came “Where’d you go, Bernadette?”…

Where’d You Go, Bernadette is director Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Maria Semple’s best-selling 2012 novel about an eccentric, anxious, and borderline agoraphobic Seattle mother.

But Bernadette (Cate Blanchett) is more than she seems (a bored and lonely rich housewife); she’s actually an architectural genius who hasn’t worked in nearly 20 years.

Though she’s warm and loving with her family, even many day-to-day tasks are too much for the antisocial Bernadette to handle: She outsources them to a virtual assistant in India, to whom she dictates long, rambling emails that clue us into her fierce intelligence as well as her chronic low-grade depression. But Bernadette never fails to pick her daughter up from school, where the other mothers mistake her extreme reserved character for snobbery.

Her one happy place is any time she’s with her daughter, Bee, who’s the apple of Bernadette’s eye and possibly the only person around whom she’s joyful.

In exchange for finishing middle school with a perfect report card, her daughter Bee persuades her parents to take her on a trip to Antarctica over Christmas break. Her father Elgin (Billy Crudup) is more than a game to take a break from his high-pressure job as a robotics engineer at Microsoft. But Bernadette is so terrified at the prospect of small-talk with other passengers, not to mention seasickness, that she begins scheming ways to get out of the trip.

Bernadette’s avoids socializing and tends to reject her relationships with the other moms in their neighborhood. She distrusts them and goes out of her way to avoid them – in particular, her direct neighbor, Audrey (Kristen Wiig), a single mom of a teenage son, and enthusiastic local organizer. Audrey is pretty much the standard role of a controlling, perfectionist neighbor. And the two of them, like natural enemies, constantly clash and judge each other unfavorably.

The tension between Bernadette and her neighbor Audrey reaches a breaking point when they clash over the blackberry plants that are beginning to invade Audrey’s backyard.

As the movie goes on though, Bernadette’s disagreement starts to look less like a deliberate choice and more like insanity. Her husband’s concern for her mental health, calling for intervention with a government agent, psychologist and his assistant, who is one of her haters! The reason for this intervention? the so-called virtual assistant was a sham.

Unable to cope with the trauma of hearing this and feeling her world crashing down, she runs away, the process of her running away, and self-discovery was so beautifully captured, the process of her healing and the relationship with her family getting stronger and above all find her purpose in life…

As always being a big fan of Cate Blanchett, her role of Bernadette was perfectly portrayed by her and only making you fall in love with her character and enjoying every bit of her journey to self-healing and self-discovery.

What I loved about the movie:

Thought-provoking, makes you realize the importance to pursue your passion. the movie is a must-watch to all women, especially women/moms 30+ and above.

Rating – 4.5/5 

Parents Note:

– Marital arguments between Bernadette and her husband
– A scene of a teenage vaping
– Adults drinking alcohol