The Thing with Feathers (Southern, 2025) - Berlinale

What is the difference between grief and despair? When we are feeling either, would we even be able to tell? In this film adaptation of the book Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter, writer and director Dylan Southern tries to visually tackle this idea. On the brink of fantasy and reality, The Thing with Feathers (2025) is a look into what it can be like after unexpected death and loss, and what happens if you never want to move on. Though, can anyone truly ever move on from death?

In The Thing with Feathers, Benedict Cumberbatch stars as a young father of two sons – completely reliant on his wife for everything. That is, until the three are left alone and devastated after the unexpected death of their wife, and mother. Unsure how to cope, the father begins to feel an unknown presence in the apartment, and his grip on reality begins to fade. What he believes to be his imagination, turns out to be a manifestation of grief in the form of a humanlike crow (voiced by David Thewlis) – like those which he has drawn from pages of his work as a comic book artist. Worried for his sons’ safety, but completely grief stricken, the father must confront the crow as it forces them to work through their grief and understand the new shape their family will take.

The idea of grief is difficult for all to deal with and the book using this manifestation of a crow to be the visual form was something to explore. Adapting this concept into a film was the next step forward in allowing the world to see grief handled, partially, on the big screen. For the most part, the film was beautiful, until it fell too much into fantasy and paranormal to truly focus on the grief. This element made some of the viewers fall behind and unable to catch up.

As the father begins dealing with life after his wife’s death, the audience can tell that he relied on her for so much. We are brought up close and personal as he experiences breakdowns and is overwhelmed by the boys and his current situation. All of this gets worse when the crow arrives. While the filmmaking techniques are great here and emotions of the father can be felt through the screen, due to the acting delivered by Cumberbatch, eventually, the dark turn that is taken is somewhat too dark and too out of this world.

Following different perspectives during this journey through their grief, Southern chooses to show the father, the sons, and the crow, each as they explain to the audience what is going on in their heads. Too lost in his grief, and feeling entrapped by the crow, the father is completely lost to his sons, and the sons feel it. A typical tale of grief and nightmares, takes a dark turn when the father is on the brink of giving up. And this is where the viewers can get lost.

Beautifully crafted, and an overall tale of how one can manifest their grief, The Thing with Feathers tries to show its audiences that grief and despair are normal. What needs to be different is how you deal with your grief. Perhaps not a perfect adaptation from book to film – said without having read the book – The Thing with Feathers does focus on a subject that everyone in the world deals with, even if they wish not to have to.