My Wonderful Life

Movie review by Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media
My Wonderful Life Movie Poster

Common Sense says

age 15+

Drama about woman living a secret life; language, drugs.

NR 2022 99 minutes
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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that My Wonderful Life is a Polish feature that meanders in tone from a drama about infidelity to an almost comic look at the difficulties of an extended family sharing small quarters. Expect frank but not graphic depictions of adult sexuality as the long-married mother of two has an affair, smokes marijuana, and looks for respite from the burdens of work and caring for her mother and grandchild. Breasts are shown and adults and teens smoke cigarettes and marijuana. Language includes "f--k," "s--t," "ass," "bastard," "hell," "damn," "crap," "blunt," "horny," and "whore." The film won for Best Director at the 2021 Polish Film Festival. In Polish with English subtitles.

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What's the Story?

The title's MY WONDERFUL LIFE, whether an ironic or earnest designation, belongs to Jo (Agathe Buzek), who presides over a large family with her husband Witek (Jacek Braciak). The seemingly happy couple work together at a prep school while caring for her Alzheimer-stricken mother, a teen son, an adult son and his partner, and their incessantly crying 2-year-old. Jo worries about her health and, as if to release some of the pressure, smokes marijuana and has an affair with a goofy fellow teacher. Someone finds out and sends her texts, phone calls, and notes threatening to expose her exploits. Although shaken, she doesn't end her behavior and when the pressures come to a head, the family confronts her.

Is It Any Good?

Although My Wonderful Life tries to depict the struggles of a modern woman in a sprawling dysfunctional family, not much happens. This often feels like a gentle and accepting view of how life's difficulties can bring out the best and worst in us all. Despite the problems -- a boring and prickly marriage, a mother with dementia, one son flunking out of school and another with an entitled wife quick to spout withering comment -- the life described here, a life basically full of love, really isn't that bad. Perhaps the filmmakers want to convey that anyone who lives in a free country and shares a roof overhead and three square meals a day with loved ones, even irritating and selfish loved ones, is still a pretty lucky person enjoying a pretty wonderful life.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about where the director wants our sympathies to lie. Do we disapprove of a woman who is largely unappreciated at home and looks for some distraction outside her marriage? Or does the movie want us to understand her mistakes?

  • Does the movie suggest that people are neither all good nor all bad? What are some examples of that thinking?

  • How do you feel about Jo and her family members at the end of the film and why?

Movie Details

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