Isabel Coixet has long been drawn to stories of quiet ruptures and existential reckonings. With Three Goodbyes [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], the Catalonian helmer adapts Michela Murgia’s bestselling novel Tre Ciotole into a contemplative, if uneven, drama about love, illness and the preciousness of time. Premiering in Toronto’s Special Presentations, the film stars Alba Rohrwacher and Elio Germano, and unfolds as a bittersweet meditation on what it means to say farewell – to a partner, to a sense of self and to life itself.

The set-up is deceptively simple. Marta (Rohrwacher), a high-school physical education teacher in Rome, lives with Antonio (Germano), a chef whose career is on the rise. Yet the couple seem mismatched: Marta treats his job with indifference, Antonio senses her detachment, and after a trivial quarrel, the relationship abruptly dissolves. While Antonio plunges into creating his own restaurant, Marta spirals inwards. When she receives a terminal diagnosis, Marta must confront what remains of her time.

Here, Coixet leans into tenderness, rather than melodrama, aided by Guido Michelotti’s warm 35 mm cinematography, which gives the Roman settings a soft, nostalgic patina. At its best, the film balances intimacy and universality, serving as both a portrait of one woman’s reckoning and a tribute to Murgia, who died of cancer in 2023 after a lifetime of activism and writing.

Still, the adaptation is not without its issues. The first act feels curiously vacant, lingering on the minutiae of the couple’s breakup. Only once Marta’s diagnosis emerges does the narrative gain weight. Tighter pacing might have lent the structure more urgency, especially over a two-hour running time.

Performance-wise, the results are mixed. Rohrwacher shoulders the emotional core, yet her acting may prove divisive. Her familiar blend of pathos, sadness and naïveté – recognisable from many of her past roles – risks flattening a character that ought to feel monumental in her contradictions. Moments when Marta recites passages from Murgia’s book, meant as inner reflection, often land with a stiff, scholastic tone. Meanwhile, Germano captures Antonio’s confusion and vulnerability with nuance, credible as a man who cannot fathom why his relationship has unravelled yet who still aches for its loss.

The standout is Francesco Carril as Agostino, Marta’s colleague and confidant. His performance radiates warmth, embodying the steadfast presence Marta struggles to recognise in her partner. Sarita Choudhury also lends gravitas to a smaller but pivotal role as Marta’s doctor.

The final third is where Coixet’s hand feels most assured. Here, dialogue recedes, and bodies, glances and silences take precedence. This wordless register allows the film to breathe, moving closer to Coixet’s trademark lyricism. While never showy, these scenes resonate with a well-measured theatrical intensity, elevating the work beyond its earlier conventional trappings.

Yet not all of Murgia’s textures translate seamlessly. One of the novel’s most peculiar traits is the author’s fondness for K-pop, channelled through Marta’s imagined dialogues with a fictional idol named Jirko (Sungku Jung). On the page, this alter ego serves as a playful and intimate device, reflecting Murgia’s real-life passion for the genre and offering Marta a symbolic interlocutor in moments of solitude. On screen, however, Coixet renders these exchanges whimsical and overly sentimental. The device feels underdeveloped, leaving viewers puzzled about its purpose.

Three Goodbyes ultimately overcomes its flaws through the solidity of its source material. It may not reinvent Coixet’s cinema, and it does not escape the shadow of familiarity that hovers over much Italian melodrama, but it does provide an affecting farewell – to Murgia, to Marta and to the fragile yet luminous gift of life itself.

Three Goodbyes is an Italian-Spanish co-production staged by Cattleya, Ruvido Produzioni, Bartlebyfilm, Buenapinta Media, Bteam Prods, Colosé Producciones, Perdición Films, Apaches Entertainment, Tres Cuencos AIE, Vision Distribution and RTVE. Vision Distribution is also in charge of its world sales.