“What do I do?” is a question we ask our friends, loved ones, and even our co-workers when we are faced with a dilemma or insurmountable problem. Perhaps a fresh perspective will unlock the elusive solution, or, maybe, just putting it out into the world will echo back an answer. We can offer advice, but a life-changing decision is truly only in our hands. In Liz Tigelaar’s adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 book, Tiny Beautiful Things, one woman grasps the reins of her runaway life before it spirals even more out of control. With a landmark performance from Kathryn Hahn, Tiny Beautiful Things is deeply emotional and beautifully written.
Clare’s life is in freefall. Her marriage is strained since she gave her brother, Lucas, all the money in her daughter’s college fund without consulting her husband, Danny. Counseling for the couple isn’t going well either, and she feels that their therapist, Mel, is continually taking her husband’s side. Rae, their daughter, is struggling to find her identity with her friends, and Clare’s job, in admissions at a retirement community, is under investigation after she offers too much comfort to a resident. When an old writer pal gives Clare the opportunity to take over an anonymous advice column, Dear Sugar, she doesn’t think she’s right for it, but it soon becomes the therapy for Clare to find comfort and clarity for herself.
“I’m dishonest. I’m impulsive. I’m happy. I’m jealous. I’m lonely. I have no right to give advice to anyone,” Clare says in a voiceover in one of the later episodes. Is she simply providing an inner monologue, or is she trying to convince herself that she’s not right for the job. When Hahn’s Clare flicks through the submitted Dear Sugar questions on her phone, it overwhelms her–she doesn’t even read a full email before swiping to the next entry. But when she sits down to write a response, the prose spills out of her. There are many kinds of therapy that don’t involve sitting on a couch and spilling your guts, and writing is Clare’s opportunity to find a light within her that she didn’t even know she had.
Every entry that Clare reads stirs something up from her past that she considers a failure. Her first marriage, her current marriage, her relationship with her distant brother, and, ultimately, how she never truly accepted the passing of her mother, Frankie (played with gently, soothing guidance by the extraordinary Merritt Wever). When you lose a parent, you can sometimes feel as if you don’t belong to anyone anymore, and Tigelaar, her staff of writers, and, especially, Hahn, capture that sense of being adrift, that feeling of desperately trying to grasp onto something in order to steady yourself. It’s a very specific feeling that you don’t understand until it happens to you, and Tiny Beautiful Things will stir that feeling in a lot of viewers.
Hahn is a performer who roots herself on that shaky line between laughing and crying (I would love to see what advice Sugar would give to Hahn’s Eve from HBO’s Mrs. Fletcher). A lot of fans, myself included, have proclaimed, “She can do anything!” but rarely does that kind of performer continue to surprise us with their humanity and gumption. She is awe-inspiring and fearless as Clare. As she tries to repair aspects of her life, her Clare is breathless not just from the constant spiky, verbal fights she gets into with everyone, but it feels like something is trying to rip through her and she can’t calm it down. A monster of grief, anger, and personal disappointment is only calmed by the soothing glow of her laptop when Clare allows herself the space and time to process.
Between this and Welcome to Chippendales, Quentin Plair, as Danny, solidifies himself as an actor to keep your eye on. His Danny is fearful of change, but he doesn’t know if his path is one he wants to walk anymore. Sarah Pidgeon, as the younger version of Clare, rides a tough emotional course in some of the season’s bleakest moments, but she her frantic energy is captivating.
Tiny Beautiful Things will hit differently for everyone depending on their own personal relationship with grief and loss, but it never loses sight that we can all take control of what we want and to never lose sight of the good we have. It teaches a valuable lesson in the power of goodbye.
Tiny Beautiful Things debuts all episodes on Hulu on April 7.