Miss You, Love You: Film Gang Review

Miss You, Love You, written and directed by comedian Jim Rash, takes a long and winding road to examine grief and loss in cathartic and surprising ways. Nominated for Outstanding Television Movie for the 2026 Emmy Awards, this film follows Diane Patterson, a widow preparing for the funeral of her second husband, and Jamie Simms, the personal assistant of Diane’s son. Actors Alison Janney and Andrew Rannells deliver powerful depictions of an unlikely pairing longing for connection. Dealing with the disappointment of her son not showing up for the funeral, Diane strings Jamie along to assist her in funeral preparation as tensions rise and fall between them. The film begins with the arrival of Jamie to Diane’s house in New Mexico. There is a brief moment of quiet as Jamie gets acclimated, then the story catapults forward with the appearance of Diane, who doesn’t introduce herself to Jamie and instead starts complaining about a succulent that she hasn’t been able to take care of properly. Jamie follows her around her house as she buzzes along, seemingly uninterested in Jamie’s presence. After a while, they confront the truth: Jamie is here in place of Diane’s son, Tyler. Diane is not pleased by this, but doesn’t send him away either, and Jamie is more than ready to help her out. If the premise of this film seems straightforward and simple, it’s because it really is. The nuances of Miss You, Love You lie in the performances from Janney and Rannells, and the dialogue from Rash. Both Diane and Jamie are basically trapped in this less than ideal situation with each other. Even when Jamie is pleasant and professional, Diane cannot help but being standoffish and dismissive. Little by little, they peel back each other’s layers and learn more about each other as the week goes on. Diane asks Jamie about Tyler many times, knowing that they are contacting each other often. They discover some similarities between them, like that they were both caretakers for their loved ones in their last moments. There is a constant push and pull between the characters as they struggle to be open and honest after knowing each other for a very short amount of time. A revelation about Tyler happens halfway through the film, which pushes both Diane and Jamie to their limits in their already impossible situation. This film, to me, is a tough sell. With only brief appearances of comedic side characters, most of its one-and-a-half hour run time is spent with combative dialogue between Janney and Rannells, bringing out the best and worst in each other. I want to praise both of these actors for their portrayal of complicated characters with raw emotions. However, by the time they were on their umpteenth argument of the film, the intensity grew tiring. I must commend Rash for writing with great compassion for these characters who are dealing with personal losses. One of the few bright spots for me in this film were the tender moments when Diane would talk about her son coming to terms with being gay and eventually coming out to her. Although this film was a strong, bitter cup of tea that was not for me, it was still clear there was a lot of heart poured into this project. For KSQD’s Film Gang: Isa Cortez.