I opted to take on Tiny Beautiful Things because I adore Kathryn Hahn, especially when she dives into a dramatic role. What I didn’t know was where the Disney+ series came from. Chery Strayed did the original book, and she put together a series of letters and responses from an advice column called Dear Sugar—the same column we hear so much about in the series.
Instead of a series of columns, Tiny Beautiful Things follows Clare (Kathryn Hahn, Bad Moms, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, WandaVision), a writer, as she takes on life in a big way. During her every day, the story ebbs and flows between reality and fantasy, taking us wherever Clare’s mind wanders, be that daydreams, nightmares, her writing, and even in and out of her past. We see the world as she sees it, and it’s a beautifully brutal thing to watch.
The way we watch the camera cut back and forth to Clare, one moment as her adult self, another as a twenty-something, and sometimes even as a child, gives the viewer a sense of her state of mind at that moment. When she is angry or violent, we see a young adult dealing with things far beyond her comprehension. When her world is falling apart, we see a child, small and frightened.
“Tiny Beautiful Things brings to light a harsh reality that comes along with being a woman.”
At other moments in Tiny Beautiful Things, we see supporting characters such as her husband Danny (Quentin Plair, Welcome to Chippendales), daughter Rae (Tanzyn Crawford), mother (Merritt Wever), or best friend Amy (Michaela Watkins, Robot Chicken, Big Mouth), also slipping in and out of time, occasionally to their younger selves, all based on Clare’s feelings.
When she feels moments of love with Danny, we see his younger self staring back at her, full of adoration, innocence and a happier time. While her teenage daughter loathes her, she occasionally flashes back to a day when her daughter was thrilled to see her.
This is a concept that could seem cheesy and take the viewer out of the moment, but it was done flawlessly in Tiny Beautiful Things. As a wife, mother and friend, I felt those flashes in a way that I can’t describe. I felt them as Clare felt them, and I can guarantee many other women can relate.
Much of Clare’s life is dark and relatable. Having to choose between the family you’re born into and the family you build seems impossible. Parenting a teenager who is beginning to explore her individuality seems impossible. Finding out who we are as women when we have spent our lives belonging to other people, as daughters, sisters, wives, or mothers-seems impossible.
Clare spends her entire life caring for other people and finding her self-worth in them at the same time. Whether it is her husband, daughter, mother, or even her hero (Tim Roth, She Hulk, Pulp Fiction), if she isn’t cherished, she’s lost. It is only through taking on a project she never thought she wanted that she was able to overcome the need for approval from others and start to believe in herself.
Tiny Beautiful Things shows some of the ugliest moments during that search for oneself, and Kathryn Hahn’s Clare was raw, and ugly and beautiful and powerful all at the same time. The only thing that may have rivalled Hahn’s performance was Sarah Pidgeon (The Wilds) as the twenty-something Clare struggling with loss and acceptance.
“Tiny Beautiful Things shows some of the ugliest moments during that search for oneself, and Kathryn Hahn’s Clare was raw, and ugly and beautiful and powerful all at the same time.”
Merritt Weaver’s Frankie and Tanzyn Crawford’s Rae are another pair of strong women. Rae is also on a journey to find herself, and Frankie is trying to live the best life she can within her means. Weaver somehow manages to play characters that feel so similar and yet so different at the same time.
Weaver often has a lightness about her that somehow fits the role of a quirky nurse (Nurse Jackie), a determined cop (Unbelievable), and now a mother (Tiny Beautiful Things) all at once. There’s always something nurturing about her characters, and I’m excited to see how she brings it to the screen each time.
I was shocked to find that Pidgeon had a relatively small acting repertoire. Many of her on-screen moments brought waves of emotion in a way I thought only a more seasoned actor could. Also, kudos to the casting director for finding someone with so many similar traits to Hahn.
Tiny Beautiful Things brings to light a harsh reality that comes along with being a woman. It so deeply explores the loss of oneself and the journey to find that person once again. It is only fitting that Tiny Beautiful Things brings four powerful women—Kathryn Hahn, Sarah Pidgeon, Tanzyn Crawford and Merritt Weaver—along with us on that journey.
