A divorce can lead to many emotional and financial problems in one’s life such as losing one’s social support, financial instability and even a decline in mental health. Following a fresh divorce from Helen, Mike (Aaron Roman Weiner) is known to be a cheater and has destabilised Helen’s (Ellie Kemper) peace of mind and their marriage. Listening to her younger brother’- Duncan’s (Alexander Koch) advice, Helen agrees to sign up for a beginner’s Appalachian trail survivalist course which is an intense backcountry trail lasting for three weeks with a strange group of strangers. She does this because she wants to find a new path to walk and reset her life. She also wants to keep a promise to herself and reclaim her life.
On the trip she meets all these new unfamiliar faces for this ‘long walk’ there is one face which is not so ‘unfamiliar’. It is her younger brother – Duncan’s best friend Jake (Luke Grimes) who is also a doctor but has other aspirations like travelling the world and wildlife watching. In fact, Jake is a man who has ‘dreamy eyes’ and a ‘save everyone’ attitude.
With seven other people who are going on this trip besides Helen and Luke, everyone is forced to bond with one another as they brave all the elements of the trail. Surviving the remote wilderness of a mountain range in Wyoming where there are plenty of mosquito infestations and a summer blizzard. On this trip, Helen learns how sometimes the people who annoy you the most can teach you the very things that you need to learn, how you need to stand up for yourself, how being scared can actually make you brave and how sometimes you need to really get lost before you can be found again. The film was shot in multiple locations in Connecticut, USA.
The movie is based on the novel, ‘Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center. However, there are certain alterations between the novel and the movie. Some of these include Jake and Helen’s road trip is not portrayed in the movie. Instead, the introduction starts with Helen at Jake and Duncan’s party. In the movie, the age gap is 5 years. Jake is 35 years old while Helen is 40 years old. In the book, however, there is a wider age gap – Jake is 22 years old whereas Helen is 32 years old. In the book, everyone is a lot older than what they have been mentioned in the book. The only one whose age remains constant is Beckett – the young guide. The movie entirely cuts out the storyline of Helen’s ex ‘best-friend’ marrying her ex-boyfriend. Instead, it is shown as Grandma Gigi who hosts a book club and birthday celebration which Jake attends. Also in the movie, Helen mentions that Duncan had hit her dog with a car. However, in the book, her dog Pickle dies right at the beginning of the book.
The movie has many interesting scenarios in it such as when Helen gashes her leg on a rock and Jake being the doctor immediately dresses her wound; when Helen asks Jake to help her deal with the blisters as she didn’t wear the correct footwear; when Helen pledges to be a better sister when Beckett finds the paper with Helen’s three goals and questions the hiking group whom it belongs to and throws a fit, a scenario where Helen and Jake are both in a tent before Hugh’s rescue mission and many others.
Having premiered on Netflix on July 27th, 2023, this movie has become one of the top-rated movies to watch at the moment. With many popular actors in the movie such as Mary Neely, Alexander Koch, Esteban Benito, Gus Birney, Julia Shiplett, Shayvawn Webster, Nico Santos, Blythe Danner and Ben Cook; it is Vicky Wight’s (director) fourth film to direct after she was the co-producer of the documentary APACHE 8.
