Procrastination took over, as I accidentally ended up on Netflix. I checked the independent category, just to look and resulted in me adding three films to my infinite list, that I am not even three quarters of the way through: Robot & Frank (Jack Shreier, 2013), Short Term 12 (Destin Daniel Cretton, 2013) and Restless (Gus Van Sant, 2011). I was in the mood to shed a tear, and oh boy I did. I laid in my bed, aka my lover and surrounded myself with food. I was holding frantically on to manky tissues that were soaked with my expected tears. All three films really do focus on emotive story lines…I mean topics of mental health, cancer and dementia, I don’t think you can get anything sadder.

Short Term 12, appealed to me the most, as topics of mental health and sexual abuse fore fronted the narrative. This somewhat hidden and neglected subject matter opened my eyes to the issues some young teens face. The feelings and fears the characters feel during the film don’t necessarily go away when they become adults, displayed through the talented Brie Larson’s character, Grace – they just get better at hiding them.

Short Term 12 follows a young adult working at a residential treatment center full of teens and kids. Her special ability to form relationships with her co-workers and the patients gives the audience her respect, as we find out she has gone through similar circumstances to one the teens/patients Jayden has.

Grace’s own battles within herself are supported by her boyfriend Mason, played by the charming John Gallagher Jr. Their journey between themselves and the place they both work and commit to one hundred percent, makes this film a hard hitting and realistic view of the mental health support systems available.

Disturbing imagery of self harm scars, blood, open wounds and bruises from abuse, isn’t even the part which made me cry, but the real issues that face these kids and how they are completely out of their control. A young, what seems to be autistic child, Sammy depends solely on his sister’s soft toys. When they get force-ably taken away, the audience feel his sadness. The silent scene in which Sammy lays emotionless on his bed, curled in the fetus position displays that the little things often mean the most.

Each character’s unique story is addictive and I was rooting for them every step of the way. I hoped and wished for a happy ending for each character, but as I was reminded by the end this film, it tackles real life issues, therefore the endings to these characters are real.

I was intrigued to watch Robot & Frank, as similarly to short term 12 the story matter is something hardly mentioned in society, let alone displayed in a film format. Dementia is never fully labelled within the film, however the audience gather from his forgetful tendencies and constant check ups from his two grown up children, Hunter (James Marsden) and Madison (Liv Tyler) that he has a form of severe memory loss.

Set in the near future, Robot & Frank displays an age where technology rules. The library, Frank’s main site that he visits is run by Jennifer, played by Susan Sarandon. His attachment to her and the library, follows Frank’s battle with his old criminal self and relationships with his loved ones. His son buys him a robot to take care of him, but the original intentions of the robot changes when Frank gets the idea to go on a burglarspree.

One huge disappointment within the film was the acting. I still can’t tell if the director chose a disconnected acting style or Liv Tyler and Jeremy Strong, who played Jake, a self obsessed millionaire who was changing the library, can’t act. Frank Langella who played Frank, an elderly man stuck in his past, with his memory and traditions, was perfect for the role. He displayed a character who I didn’t know if I liked or not, which I love in films. I want real characters when I watch a film, not people who came out of God’s bottom.

The utter obsessive attachment I got to the robot when he is abruptly turned off made me aware of the dangers artificial intelligence and advances in technology could have. The robot itself has no change in tone, nor facial expression, which humans naturally react to, however out of the whole film, it was my favorite character.

Restless was probably my least favorite. For a cancer film it wasn’t sad. I didn’t cry, not even close. Plus the plot and characters seemed a little odd, even for me. The narrative follows a terminally ill teenage girl named Annabel, played by Mia Wasikowska who falls in love with Enoch, played by Henry Hopper. Enoch doesn’t just have a strange name, but a weird presence. He has an imaginary best friend Hiroshi Takahashi, played by Ryo Kase and has an obsession with gate crashing funerals. We later find out his past, with the unexpected death of his parents, whose funeral he was not allowed to attend. The issue of grieving and dying is present in this film, but I wouldn’t say in a realistic way. I know, I know, films don’t have to be realistic, but the story line didn’t fit that with the naturalistic acting style.

Maybe I am too square. From a certain perspective this film does show the before and after effect of cancer…I didn’t even notice when Annabel died. The moment was rushed and forgetful, but maybe that was on purpose, as the main message I got from the film is death isn’t the end. It was a charming film nevertheless and again, like short term 12, focused on teenagers.

A modern day audience is used to the sadness cancer brings, from films such as The Fault in our Stars and My Sister’s Keeper. This film takes a unique stand point. It tells the audience you don’t have to check  off your bucket list or find meaning in your life when you are dying, it just sort of continues like before.

Overall, the three films I watched were extremely enjoyable to watch. I would certainly recommend people to procrastinate on Netflix like I did. A good idea though, if watching all three, I'd start with Restless and end with Short Term 12.