Film Friday: What We Did On Our Holiday

There is a moment in WWDOOH when young Mickey says something like, ‘I can’t wait to get back to school and write about “what I did on my half term”…’ And to be sure, that would be an essay like no teacher ever read before!

Abi and Doug’s marriage is in big trouble. But they don’t want to tell granddad because he is dying and they are off to celebrate what is most likely his last birthday. The shock might finish granddad Gordy altogether. Their eldest daughter Lottie keeps a notebook containing the lies they must tell to cover up the precarious state of things. Abi and Doug also do not want to tell their three children, Lottie, Mickey and Jess how ill their grandfather really is.

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There is much in this movie about lying and dying. The adults bicker and squabble their way through things, all of them covering up aspects of their lives along the way. The children meanwhile are gloriously uncomplicated, saying all the wrong things at all the wrong moments. The family is planning a big party to celebrate rascally Gordy’s last birthday, but in the end it’s the uncomplicated children he wants to spend his day with.

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On at least two occasions Jesus spoke about the truth setting people free. He also claimed to be the truth about things, as well as the resurrection and the life. Astonishing claims. As we grow up there is no doubt that we learn to cover up, but the children in this story demonstrate the kind of freedom brought by truth. An unbridled honesty about life and death. The kind of truth Jesus might well celebrate. He did say, after all, that we should become like little children.

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