It looked like a frothy wedding comedy. Then Muriel’s Wedding pulled the rug: ABBA, cringey laughs, and—whoops—real sadness underneath.
What I loved (and winced at) was how the big white wedding isn’t a harmless daydream here. It’s a life plan women get nudged towards, and Muriel clings to it like proof she matters. In doing so, she nearly misses the better stuff right beside her—friendship, small joys, and the hard, unglamorous business of learning to like herself.
A couple of split-diopter shots really stayed with me. Muriel sits stranded in the foreground while someone else stays razor-sharp in a doorway behind her, like the world quietly judging.
Toni Collette makes the need feel human, not a punchline, and Rachel Griffiths brings grit and heart. The ending lands as proper relief—earned, not syrupy.