Review of Cake (2014) by Johanne C — 06 Jan 2015

Anniston deserves the attention and approbation she's getting for this fierce, sad, vulnerable performance. We learn over the course of the film why Claire is such a mess -- she's become addicted to pain pills because of some unexplained accident.

.. or maybe it's something else.. maybe psychosomatic. We don't know. What we do know is that she's obsessed with the suicide of another woman from her chronic pain support group. The story that unfolds introduces us to her loyal housekeeper, the widow of the suicide, the coordinator of the support group, and her estranged husband -- all of whom she tries to push away in one way or another as she stumbles through the haze of pain, addiction, and, we ultimately learn, grief.