This weekend, I rewatched “Sunshine Cleaners.” It stars Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, came out in 2008 and gets average reviews. Blunt and Adams play sisters who start a crime scene clean-up business to make some desperately needed cash. There’s a lot to be said about this movie but the scene that had the biggest impact on me lasts 10 seconds.
The sisters are sent to clean up a suicide and find the wife of the victim standing outside. She informs them that her husband took his life while she was gone for her weekly bridge game.
Adams’s character sits outside with her while Blunt goes in.
We see post-it notes with reminders about keys, lights, food, etc. throughout the house. Signs the husband may have had memory issues.
In the room where the man died, there is a mirror with two post-it notes on it.
The first says: Ethel has Bridge at 4 p.m. The second: Tell Ethel you love her.
No matter how many times I see that scene it makes me tear up.
I have found a scene like this in every so-called “sad” movie. Some acts of love which are poignant yet unspoken. Even if it doesn’t affect the main characters or change the plot, these moments are there.
When I first saw “Dead Poets Society” I didn’t know why people consider it sad. I found out of course, but I loved the movie. The happy scenes, the sad parts and the thoughtful moments make it the film it is.
I rewatched “Dead Poets Society” a lot. “Sunshine Cleaners” too. Because those happy moments, the reminders of love, are all the more poignant in light of the heartbreak.
Each rewatch dulls the pain and lets the good moments shine all the brighter.
