I know it’s a bit unusual, but in my blog post on Goodreads this week I am reviewing a movie. Well, it is actually based on a book. The Door began as a Hungarian novel written in 1987, later translated into English. I never actually read the book, but I really loved the movie and I'm reviewing it here because I think it's a great example of the kind of story that makes a compelling novel. Filmed in English, it is a character-driven, intelligent drama about a successful novelist and her unusual relationship with her elderly, hardbitten housekeeper (powerfully acted by Helen Mirren).

I believe it takes a fierce kind of bravery to see life as it really is, to embrace even its most fearsome aspects. Most of us go through life avoiding these moments. We hurry away, averting our eyes, pretending its not happening. When someone we know suffers or dies, we go through all the expected motions, but often we don’t allow ourselves to truly confront it or acknowledge our true feelings about it. We’re often not honest with ourselves about our feelings, and we certainly don't tell others our real feelings about these things.

Not so with Mirren's character Emerence. This humble washerwoman teaches a novelist, of all people, about what people really are--and what they really need from others. A beautiful movie, filmed expertly and unsentimentally. Emerence would approve.