She has already been nominated for an Oscar seven times, and finally won it for her performance as a former concentration camp guard in “The Reader”: “Titanic” star Kate Winslet is undoubtedly one of the most renowned actresses of her generation! In addition to occasional blockbuster roles such as currently in “Avatar 3: Fire And Ash”, she can be seen regularly in upscale dramas such as the recent veritable arthouse hit “The Photographer”. While she also took on the role of co-producer, her son Joe Anders (born Joe Alfie Winslet Mendes) was also there in a small role. Certainly not a coincidence, because in recent years the family has become particularly close again after Winslet's mother succumbed to ovarian cancer in 2017.
While Kate Winslet used her popularity to raise public awareness of the disease in campaigns and to raise funds for further research, Joe Anders turned his thoughts into a film script. It is a matter of honor that Kate Winslet chose such personal material for her directorial debut “Goodbye June,” which was shot on location in London in March and April 2025. Just in time for Christmas, the family drama, which stars Winslet and includes Andrea Riseborough (“Good Boy”), Toni Collette (“Mickey 17”) and Helen Mirren (“The Queen”), is now starting on Netflix.
“Goodbye June” is loosely based on the experiences that Kate Winslet herself had when her own mother died of cancer.
Two weeks before Christmas, June (Helen Mirren) collapses one morning while making tea. In the hospital it is discovered that an incurable cancer has spread and that she will die very soon. The youngest child Connor (Johnny Flynn), who still lives with June and her drunken husband Bernie (Timothy Spall), gathers his very different sisters together to say goodbye to their mother. However, the tough career woman Julia (Kate Winslet), the eco-mother Molly (Andrea Riseborough) and the heavily pregnant yoga teacher Helen (Toni Collette) have become estranged from each other in recent years. Can reconciliation be achieved before June's death?
Some gags would have been better avoided
So the situation is literally deadly serious – and Joe Anders opens the plot, which follows the title character's ever-deteriorating health, with initially clumsy attempts to lighten things up. The introduction of Helen in particular is anything but confident: Julia calls her with smoking sticks during a holistic dance class of all things – and hears from her the silly story of a woman who slipped naked on a catalog and died from the fall. The annoying clicking of June's pen by June's attending physician when discussing the diagnosis makes the tense Molly increasingly angry – and the scene, which is a little too long, leaves you rather perplexed, thanks to Winslet's sober production. Why is there an attempt here to lighten the drama with half-baked jokes?
But fortunately, as the running time progresses, the funny bits not only become less frequent, but also much smoother – for example, when Molly's goofy and lovable husband Jerry is happy like a little child that he was able to get his hands on three different poultry in one for a Christmas roast. Luckily, tacky Christmas kitsch is left out, but “Goodbye June” hits the heartstrings at the latest when the family puts on an early, improvised nativity play in the hospital room for the weak June, who is pumped full of painkillers.
The three sisters (pictured here: Kate Winslet and Toni Collette) could hardly be more different, but given their mother's condition, they now have to pull themselves together…
“Goodbye June” is carried primarily by its top-class ensemble. With her chatter about free love and esotericism about energy and scents, Toni Collette, who acts with relish, provides most of the humorous elements – but remains a rather silly and cliché-laden joke character until the end. Helen Mirren's range of action as the always reserved and modest dying woman under thick make-up remains limited to the hospital bed and some wise dialogue and styling tips (“Yellow just doesn't suit Helen”).
More grateful parts are taken on by Johnny Flynn (“The Outfit”), who is convincing as a fingernail-biting nervous wreck, and Kate Winslet and Andrea Riseborough, who together also take part in the most intense scene in the film – without any decorative accessories: As director, Winslet gives the sisters Julia and Molly a lot of space to talk about their own anger, role models and life crises in a precisely edited, seven-minute dialogue in a hospital hallway while eating a chocolate bar together and reflect on responsibility. It's down-to-earth, realistic – and “Goodbye June” actually offers great actress cinema, especially in this humble moment.
Conclusion: In her very personal directorial debut “Goodbye June”, Kate Winslet tells a tragic Christmas family story with a playful ensemble that is deeply touching at times and largely leaves out kitsch. However, the sometimes very harsh humor doesn't quite fit with the contemplation of the festive season.