Life Itself

Life Itself follows Will Dempsey and Abby Dempsey, a New York couple who meet in college and build a life together through marriage and the birth of their first child. The film draws a map of their ordinary days, then spirals outward to reveal how a single choice can echo like a stone dropped into a lake, sending ripples across continents and through time. The narrative threads together moments of happiness and strain, depicting the effect of love on family and career, while flashing between intimate scenes in apartments and broader glimpses of other lives connected to them. Performances from Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, and a generous ensemble lend warmth to a sprawling, character driven mosaic.

Directed by Dan Fogelman, Life Itself is his original screenplay. The 2018 release stars Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde and was distributed by Sony Pictures. The film favors intimate performances over flashy showpieces, with a careful edit that links multiple lives without losing warmth.

Box office returns were modest, totaling about 7.997 million worldwide on a 10 million budget. The film opened widely in theaters but drew mixed reactions, earning a niche audience despite its high profile cast.

While not a cultural phenomenon, Life Itself prompted conversations about how private choices resonate in public life. Viewers noted the film's structure to mirror a web of relationships where a single moment can travel across cities and moments in time, shaping attitudes toward family, responsibility, and forgiveness. Some viewers cited echoing motifs in the way strangers encounter the protagonists, as if life writes itself through chance encounters.

Critical reception was mixed. Some reviewers praised the performances and emotional honesty, while others dismissed the sprawling approach as overworked. The film surveys love, parenthood, and the intersection of personal dreams with social forces. It asks how much control people have over their lives and whether love can bend circumstance, offering a candid look at imperfect relationships and the resilience that sustains them. Ultimately the film suggests that human connections outlast chaos.