Will Dempsey is a troubled New York writer who is trying to understand why his wife, Abby, vanished from his life. Their college romance, marriage, and coming child begin a story that moves through grief, memory, and painful surprises. The film then follows their daughter and a Spanish family whose lives are linked by one event. The tone is sad, romantic, and highly emotional, with sudden tragedy and a hopeful view of family.
The story puts love, parenthood, death, trauma, and family memory at its center. It follows an olive worker in Spain, his wife, their son, and a wealthy landowner whose choices affect the family. A short conversation mentions abortion and Christian views during a prank, but it has little effect on the main story. The film also uses a narrator who may not tell the whole truth to show how people build stories around pain, loss, and survival.
Community feedback
Was our 7% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Life Itself.
Woke representation / casting
Not present. The film uses a New York couple in the first story and Spanish actors for the Spanish family. The film does not make identity or representation part of any character’s role.
0%
Woke political dialogue
Shari briefly lists abortion as an option after a fake pregnancy and asks whether Rodrigo is Christian. The exchange treats the subject as a joke and ends with an April Fools reveal. The film does not build a repeated argument about abortion or religion.
5%
Identity-driven story themes
Not present. The film centers on love, grief, family, trauma, and chance. Its race and gender details support the characters and settings without becoming the main message.
0%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Not present. The film shows abuse by individual men and conflict between a worker and a rich landowner. Those events stay inside personal family drama and do not become a wider attack on patriarchy, traditional family life, Christianity, or Western institutions.
0%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The film is an original story, so it does not change an established character, canon, or real historical figure.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present. Public complaints focused on the film’s sad tone, twists, and emotional manipulation. The separate X research found no anti-woke complaints, and wider coverage found no clear political backlash.
0%
Creator track record context
Dan Fogelman’s stored profile shows a mild record and an apolitical public stance. Ben Browning’s stored profile points to feminist themes in Promising Young Woman, and Dara Eliacin’s profile points to access and inclusion work. Most other stored crew and producer profiles show little political or identity-driven activity.
18%
Production
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