Absolutely Brilliant!

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Blistering performances.

I've just got around to watching this today. As a 50-year-old I could relate to so much of it and relate it to my grandparents and uncles and aunties who were around during this time. Frankly, I found the film utterly heartbreaking. I must have had tears in my eyes pretty solidly for the last 30 minutes of it. It was quite overwhelming in places especially when Raymond views a body in the morgue which was very reminiscent of something that happened to me recently. I was going to write that it was a perfect slice of life but that is not big enough as it really does pretty much cover two entire lives. My boys who are under ten it has to be said were not gripped by it and did fade in and out of watching it but for adults, I can't recommend it highly enough.

This adaptation is a lovely look at the lives of 2 'average' London folks who happen to be the parents of the author Raymond Briggs who is best known for The Snowman, a Christmas favourite for nearly everyone.The story takes you from the couples marriage to their deaths and on it's way, takes you through the history of England from pre World War II on through to the 1970s. On it's way. the atmospheric animation of the second world war is beautifully and tastefully done, and gives one a real taste of what life was like. Anderson shelters, Morrison shelters, The Blitz, the docklands on fire, Spitfires, Doodle Bugs and more. I'd recommend this film to anyone from 9 to 90 and past.

In a year where the Christmas TV schedules have been packed with 'specials' that weren't special at all it's very refreshing (and a nice change) to have something as lovely as 'Ethel and Ernest' on to watch.Beautifully animated, it brings to life Raymond Briggs' graphic novel of the same name. Capturing the life of his parents this charts their struggles, their highs/lows against the changing face of Britain.The book covers some tough issues, and I was pleased to see that the film did not shy away from these either, but doing so in a dignified and poetic way.Parents thinking this is going to be like 'The Snowman', another adaptation of Briggs' work should be warned though, this isn't always child friendly due to the content.Well done to all those involved in the making of this film.

I had, of course, read the reviews of this film before unintentionally falling upon it by chance on Christmas television.I have long lamented the lack of charm in most of the recent Disney films, for example, indeed the absence of charm in today's society in general, but it is present in this film in abundance. Not only is this film visually captivating but I was frequently moved to tears by the unexpected pathos of this story, which is a microcosm of the experiences of that most extra-ordinary generation who fought and survived the Second World War and who's members, through age and slow disease, are now virtually all departed from this world.This film is sincere, amusing and observant, and like the Snowman, however different in style, will endure forever.