''Unless'' is a Canadian-Irish drama film, which premiered at the

2016 Toronto International Film Festival The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown. Awards The festival's final awards were ...

. Based on the novel ''

Unless ''Unless'' is the final novel by Canadian writer Carol Shields, first published by Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins in 2002. Semi-autobiographical, it was the capstone to Shields's writing career: she died shortly after its publicati ...

'' by

Carol Shields Carol Ann Shields, (née Warner; June 2, 1935 – July 16, 2003) was an American-born Canadian novelist and short story writer. She is best known for her 1993 novel ''The Stone Diaries'', which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as ...

, the film was directed by

Alan Gilsenan Alan Gilsenan is an Irish writer, filmmaker and theatre director. His most recent work include the cinema documentary ''Meetings with Ivor'', the feature film ''Unless'', based on a novel by Carol Shields and ''The Meeting,'' which he wrote and ...

. The film stars

Catherine Keener Catherine Ann Keener (born March 26, 1959) is an American actress. She has portrayed disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been nominated twice for the Acad ...

as Reta, a successful writer struggling to deal with her daughter Norah's (

Hannah Gross Hannah Gross (born ) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Debbie Mitford in the Netflix drama '' Mindhunter''. Early life Gross grew up in Toronto. She is the daughter of actors Martha Burns and Paul Gross. She attended N ...

) decision to drop out of college and live on the streets. The cast also includes

Brendan Coyle David "Brendan" Coyle (born 2 December 1962) is an English-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for ''The Weir'' in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries '' North & South'', Robert T ...

Matt Craven Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

, Chloe Rose,

Hanna Schygulla Hanna Schygulla (; born 25 December 1943) is a German actress and chanson singer associated with the theater and film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She first worked for Fassbinder in 1965 and became an active participant in the New German ...

Martha Henry Martha Kathleen Henry (née Buhs; February 17, 1938October 21, 2021) was an American-born Canadian stage, film, and television actress. She was noted for her work at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario. Early life and training Martha ...

Linda Kash Linda Kash (born 17 January 1961) is a Canadian actress. Career An alumna of Second City, she played Trudy Weissman in the 1998 Jean Smart sitcom '' Style & Substance''. She has also played various roles in popular television series, such as ' ...

, Yanna McIntosh, and Kathryn Greenwood.

References

External links

* * 2016 films English-language Canadian films English-language Irish films Canadian drama films Irish drama films Films based on Canadian novels Films based on American novels 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films {{2010s-Canada-film-stub