Joe Anders wrote the film at 19, inspired by the death of his grandmother — and Kate Winslet recognized a proper writer when she read him
Kate Winslet Makes Her Directorial Debut With Goodbye June
Released in select theaters December 12, 2025, and streaming on Netflix from December 24, Goodbye June marks Kate Winslet’s first time directing a feature film. The film, which Winslet also produces and stars in, was written by her son Joe Anders — who was 19 years old when he wrote the script during a screenwriting course at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, England. The result is a film that has generated strong audience response even if critical reception was divided, earning a 65 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 54 out of 100 from Metacritic.
The Screenplay’s Origins: A Family Tragedy
The premise of Goodbye June is drawn from a specific grief: the death of Winslet’s mother to ovarian cancer in 2017. Joe Anders, Winslet’s son with her former husband Sam Mendes, was deeply affected by his grandmother’s death and the way the family came together during her final weeks. A tutor at the National Film and Television School encouraged him to write from personal experience. He did not write a literal account but drew on the emotional truth of what he had witnessed. Winslet has described reading the finished script as a revelation: “I read it and it was clear to me, having read hundreds of screenplays over the years, that my son was indeed a proper writer.” She had not initially planned to direct. She planned only to produce and star. But her immersion in the project — and decades of watching directors work — pushed her toward taking on all three roles simultaneously. “The two jobs weren’t enough, so I had to do three. What on earth is wrong with me?” she joked in a podcast interview. You can stream the film on Netflix, where it arrived on Christmas Eve 2025.
The Cast: A Gathering of British Acting Royalty
Winslet assembled a cast that reads as a survey of some of the finest actors working in British film and television. Helen Mirren plays June, the dying matriarch, with what critics described as extraordinary vulnerability — losing the makeup and appearing genuinely ill for the entire film. Timothy Spall plays Bernie, the husband in denial. Toni Collette, whom Winslet had long admired but never previously worked with, plays the eccentric eldest daughter. Andrea Riseborough — who had worked with Winslet on The Regime and Lee — plays the protective youngest daughter Molly. Johnny Flynn plays the only son, Connor, still living at home and directionless. “I have wanted to work with Kate for so long and it has turned out to be the best working experience of my entire career,” Collette told Netflix’s Tudum. “She is fearless, open, decisive, focused, and listens to everyone.”
The Screenplay’s Tonal Achievement
What makes the Anders screenplay notable — particularly given that it was written by a teenager — is its refusal to treat grief as entirely solemn. The film blends what critics called “stinging humor” with genuine emotional devastation. This tonal control, balancing laughter and loss without betraying either, is one of the more difficult things to achieve in screenplay writing. The National Film and Television School where Anders developed the script is the UK’s premier film school, with alumni including David Yates, Nick Park, and many other major figures in British film.
Mixed Reviews but Strong Audience Response
Critics were broadly respectful but not uniformly enthusiastic. Deadline’s reviewer called it “an exceptionally well-made film” that allowed “seasoned pros to create people many of us probably know very well in our own lives.” Others felt the film leaned too heavily on sentimentality. Rotten Tomatoes’ consensus described it as stacking “the deck for tears a little too lopsidedly, but honest performances help put this drama’s heart firmly in the right place.” Audience scores were notably higher than critical ones, suggesting the film connected with viewers in the way it aimed to — personally, emotionally, without artifice.
What the Film Means for Winslet as a Director
For Winslet, Goodbye June represents a significant professional transition. She has described the experience of directing as the culmination of decades of watching directors and thinking like one. Director Danny Boyle reportedly told her years ago on the set of Steve Jobs: “You think like a director. When are you going to direct?” She was 50 when she finally did. The experience of directing herself — always a challenge for actor-directors — was aided by her decision to use small personal microphones rather than traditional boom equipment, creating a more intimate atmosphere on set. Whether Winslet continues directing alongside acting and producing remains to be seen. But Goodbye June, whatever its critical limitations, is a genuine debut: personal, emotionally committed, and built around a screenplay that only a proper writer could have produced. The BAFTA recognition for the film and its ensemble would further cement its place in British cinema’s recent output.
