Miss You Already is a 2015 British romantic dramedy film. It's based on the 2013 radio drama Goodbye, written by Morwenna Banks, who also wrote the film's screenplay. It was directed by Catherine Hardwicke (known for Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown, and Twilight), and stars Toni Collette, Drew Barrymore, Paddy Considine and Dominic Cooper.
The film revolves around best friends Milly (Collette) and Jess (Barrymore), who have been inseparable since childhood. However, their friendship is put to the test by personal challenges they face, in particular Milly being diagnosed with breast cancer, straining her relationship with her husband Kit (Cooper), and Jess' struggles to conceive a child with her husband Jago (Considine).
Tropes found here include:
- Babies Ever After: After struggling to conceive for many years and having a high-risk pregnancy, Jess gives birth to a healthy baby; the ending scene also reveals she and Jago are now expecting a second child.
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: A dying Milly tells Jess she's hanging on to witness the birth of Jess' first child, even sneaking out of her hospice to be with Jess when she goes into labour. Milly passes away a few days later.
- Bittersweet Ending: Milly dies from cancer, though she at least got to live long enough to see her best friend Jess successfully have her first child, and her memory is cherished by her loved ones.
- Childhood Friend: Milly and Jess first met as kids and have been best friends for decades.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After learning she will need a double mastectomy to treat her breast cancer, a distraught Milly heads to a bar to get drunk, with Jess having to come looking for her and take her home.
- Hope Spot: Milly learns her breast cancer is in remission… but unfortunately the cancer has spread to her brain and there’s nothing that can be done to treat it.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Jess and Jago have wanted children for years but have been unable to conceive. They consider trying IVF, although it's very expensive and after Milly’s cancer diagnosis, Jess is reluctant to undergo fertility treatments while her best friend is so sick. Jess and Jago eventually decide to go for IVF and successfully conceive, although Jago has to take work on an oil rig to pay for the treatments and they discover the pregnancy is high-risk. They end up having a healthy baby and get pregnant a second time a few years later.
- My Secret Pregnancy: Jess tries to hide her pregnancy because she doesn't feel comfortable telling Milly, believing that her good news will be distressing for Milly, as she's currently going through treatment for breast cancer and leans on Jess for emotional support. Milly inevitably does find out: Jess angrily reveals her baby bump to Milly during an argument.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Milly's mother Miranda ends up outliving her, as her daughter eventually succumbs to cancer. Miranda stays with Milly while she's in hospice care and at one point helps her sneak out to attend the birth of Jess' baby, knowing how much it means to them both.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Around the midway point, Jess and Milly get into a huge argument that ends with Jess storming off and the friends not speaking to each other for some time. They'd both been under a lot of emotional stress recently, what with Milly going through cancer treatment and Jess trying to get pregnant, but things reach a head when Jess discovers Milly lied to her about the reason she took them both to West Yorkshire: Milly was trying to track down a barman she had a one-night stand with following her mastectomy, cheating on her loving husband (whom Jess is also friends with) in the process. They later reach out to each other and reconcile after Jess discovers her pregnancy is high-risk and Milly discovers her cancer is back with a vengeance.
- Premature Birth Drama: Jess ends up going into labour early; it's especially concerning because doctors had told Jess her pregnancy was at a high risk for complications. Her husband Jago is still away working on an oil rig, so he isn’t there to support her. Milly ends up sneaking out of hospice care with her mother's help to be there for Jess; fortunately, the baby is born healthy.
- Time-Shifted Actor: Milly and Jess are primarily portrayed by Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore, respectively, while other actors portray younger versions of them.
- Milly is portrayed by Sophie Holland as a 21-year-old, Lucy Morton as a 13-year-old and Eleanor Stagg as a 10-year-old.
- Jess is portrayed by Charlotte Hope as a 21-year-old, Emily Trappen as a 13-year-old and Grace Schneider as a 10-year-old.
- The Topic of Cancer: A major plot point is Milly discovering she has breast cancer and undergoing treatment with the support of her best friend Jess. This includes going through chemotherapy and getting a double mastectomy, the latter of which Milly particularly struggles to cope with. Milly eventually learns she also has cancerous brain tumours, which are untreatable.