Movie Review: Next To Normal

Next To Normal will be screened in select UK cinemas from 11 September 2025.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Following successful runs in London’s Donmar Warehouse in 2023 and Wyndham’s Theatre the following year, Next To Normal is set to come to the big screen. A UK-wide cinema release of the production, presented by the Donmar, David Stone, Aaron Glick and Austin Shaw, is presented by Liberator Film Services for release this month.

Next To Normal, with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt, explores mental illness and grief through the relationships within a heartbroken family. It premiered on Broadway in 2009, winning the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and its 2023 run at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Michael Longhurst, earned it four Olivier Award nominations. Recording for the film took place at Wyndham’s Theatre over several performances both with and without an audience.

The film features the original cast: Caissie Levy plays Diana, a mother who suffers with bipolar disorder, brought on by a devastating bereavement. Levy’s portrait of a woman in the throes of mental illness is unerring in nuance and complexity, while her voice carries each number effortlessly. This is emphasised in her performance of ‘I Miss the Mountains’.

Jack Wolfe shines as Gabe and a palpable bond is felt between him and Levy. Eleanor Worthington-Cox plays teenager Natalie, heartbreakingly depicting a daughter whose pain has been neglected by her parents. Despite the dysfunctionality of the family, the actors still manage to create good chemistry, even if it is sometimes hard to see the love as they all deal with their grief alone. Jamie Parker’s portrayal of Dan, Diana’s husband, is beautiful in its depiction of devotion and determination to help her.

The mania and depression of bipolar disorder is cleverly mirrored in the music and lyrics of Kitt and Yorkey. This is particularly recognisable in ‘It’s Gonna Be Good’ as the family embraces Diana’s therapy. The songs swing from tear-jerking to raucously upbeat, leading the audience through a rollercoaster of emotions.

Chloe Lamford builds an authentic home in her set design, with characters unexpectedly emerging from a fridge mid-song being a particular highlight. The film has been slickly edited by Egli Keli, with fast scene changes which can occasionally be dizzying, but this invites the audience into Diana’s world as she loses control of her mental state.

Mental health is, thankfully, a topic that is increasingly being tackled onstage, but it’s hard to find a production that comes at it as head-on as Next To Normal. This is an important piece of theatre so the broadening of its reach across the UK this month is overwhelmingly positive.

Next To Normal is set to receive a UK screening across select Vue, Cineworld and independent cinema screens. Audiences can find their nearest screening at nexttonormal.com.

Rebecca Sinclair