'If You Should Leave Before Me' Review: A Poignant Meditation on Love, Loss and the Afterlife
- Romey Norton
- Jun 25
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 26
By Romey Norton - June 25, 2025
If You Should Leave Before Me is the haunting and tender debut feature from directing duo J. Markus Anderson and Boyd Anderson. Premiering at the 2025 Raindance Film Festival, this LGBTQ+ love story is set against a backdrop of grief and spirituality and it deeply moves.
What is the film 'If You Should Leave Before Me' about?
Mark and Joshua have weathered life together for years, bound by a gentle, enduring love. But when tragedy strikes, their once-inseparable bond fractures under the weight of unspoken sorrow. Instead of leaning into their shared grief, they retreat into silence, into routine, and into their work. Which, in a beautifully surreal twist, happens to involve guiding souls to the afterlife.
This otherworldly occupation becomes both metaphor and mirror: they help the dead move on, while struggling to do the same themselves. The film navigates that delicate space between life and death, heartbreak and hope and does it softly and gently and allows the audience to think about their opinions on the afterlife.
The Anderson brothers craft a minimalist, elegiac atmosphere that never pushes too hard. Visually, the set designs are fabulous. More like being on stage with giant cardboard, exaggerated props. It gives a high-school play vibe, which helps make the difficult content easier to digest and understand. Some sections are more funnier than expected, so there are moments of comic relief. Yet it remains grounded in its humanity, anchored by a profound understanding of queer love, bereavement, and the complexity of letting go.
The performances are understated yet deeply expressive, particularly in the quiet moments where grief hums just beneath the surface. Shane. P. Allen and John Wilcox have a beautiful chemistry and are so easy to watch on screen. Allen has a sass about his character Mark which helps the cheeky comedy between him and the more serious character Joshua by Wilcox. The supporting characters are fun and interesting. The film does well in making audiences play with the idea of what happens when we die and it doesn’t make it too sad or morbid, but creative.
The film does feel long in some parts, and that won’t be surprising as the runtime is two hours. But if you can appreciate films that take time in building a backstory, in building characters and even building a scene, then you’ll be happy to bask in everything this film has to offer.
There is a very subtle, powerful scene about 1hr 30 minutes in where we see Mark holding desperately onto Joshua and won’t let them pass over to the other side. Here you can feel so much emotion and see both sides of the conversation. The film has many scenes which are relatable but this one hits hard.
The ending isn’t surprising, but it’s wholesome and gives that hope we needed as a viewer, and ties their story up nicely.
Is 'If You Should Leave Before Me' Worth Watching?
Yes, absolutely. This is a film that doesn’t offer neat closure, and that’s its power. Instead, it invites audiences to sit with the uncomfortable truths of love and mortality, and to consider what we carry when someone we love goes where we cannot follow. It asks audiences to open their minds, hearts and souls and offers a sad, yet positive outlook to the afterlife.
'If You Should Leave Before Me' premiered at the Raindance Film Festival 2025
For more festival coverage, indie film gems and LGBTQ+ cinema highlights, explore more reviews at Film Focus Online. We’re watching what matters.
