“Men may want out,” Liz (S. Epatha Merkerson, “Law & Order”) tells her newly single friend Joan (Karen Allen, “Indiana Jones” franchise). “But I think they usually set it up so women do the walking.” That definitely seems to be the case in “Year by the Sea,” at least according to the trailer.
Before Joan finally decides to leave, her husband Robin’s (Michael Cristofer, “Mr. Robot”) job is moved across the country and he puts their house on the market without mentioning anything to her. Oh, and Robin reassures Joan he loves her because “men love their wives… and their mothers.”
With that faint praise hanging in the air, Robin relocates to Kansas and Joan moves to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. There she meets a free-spirited woman, also named Joan (Celia Imrie, “Better Things”), gets a job at the local fish market, and as “Year by the Sea’s” synopsis phrases it, “learns to embrace the ebb and flow of life.” Most importantly, Joan realizes she is happy with just herself. “I think I’ve just started to like who I could be,” she says.
Based on Joan Anderson’s bestselling memoir of the same name, “Year by the Sea” is written and directed by composer Alexander Janko (“The Girl on the Train”). It opens in New York September 8 and in Los Angeles September 15. A national release will follow.
