“I’ve been planning our retirement for the last 35 years,” Sandra (Imelda Staunton) tells a guest at her husband’s retirement party in a trailer for “Finding Your Feet.” But the best laid plans often go awry — and give way to gut-bunching discoveries about just how brutal life can be. Sandra has spent decades dreaming of a future with her husband that will never come. While celebrating his long-anticipated unemployment, Sandra walks in on him kissing another woman. He’s been having an affair with her best friend. Sandra is left to “find her feet” in life apart from him.
Co-written by Meg Leonard, “Finding Your Feet” sees uptight, snobby Sandra moving in with Bif (Celia Imrie), her estranged bohemian sister. The plot is reminiscent of “Blue Jasmine,” which earned Cate Blanchett an Oscar. But “Finding Your Feet” looks like a decidedly less dark comedy. Unlike the protagonist of “Blue Jasmine,” Sandra isn’t on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She seems daunted by the prospect of saying goodbye to her husband, but as she quickly finds out, “this could be the best thing to ever happen to [her],” at least according to Bif.
The trailer shows how Sandra re-discovers her love of dancing, and while she has difficulty being vulnerable — “I can’t just open up like a lotus flower,” she says — Sandra seems like she’s becoming more confident every day.
“Finding Your Feet” opens in the UK October 3. No word on a U.S. release date yet.
