FIVE: Lifetime Tackles Breast Cancer with Five Short Films

I’ve just finished watching Five, the incredible Lifetime original movie anthology of five short films exploring the impact of breast cancer on people’s lives. The films are directed by Jennifer Aniston (also an executive producer), Alicia Keys, Demi Moore, Patty Jenkins and Penelope Spheeris and feature an amazing ensemble cast in what is ultimately a hopeful view of experience with this disease.

The anthology begins with “Charlotte”, starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Holloway, and Jennifer Morrison and directed by Demi Moore. Set on July 20, 1969, the date of the first moon landing, this first film provides a foundation for the rest of the stories while also reminding us how far breast cancer treatment has come. Ginnifer Goodwin is Charlotte, a young mother dying of cancer. The family has gathered to watch the moon landing, or at least that’s what they’re telling young Pearl, Charlotte’s daughter. Moore chose to shoot most of the movie from Pearl’s perspective, with the camera at the adult’s waist-level and a sense of confusion about why she isn’t allowed to go in to see her mother, making the story much more personal and intimate than expected.

From there we move to “Mia”, directed by Jennifer Aniston and starring the indomitable Patricia Clarkson. Told in Memento fashion – we start with today and keep moving back in time – Mia’s story is the funniest of them all thanks to Clarkson’s fearless portrayal of a woman who thought she had nothing more to lose. There is a scene in the doctor’s office when Mia receives the news that she’s in remission that had me laughing and crying with emotional abandon. Mia’s story is also where meet the adult Pearl (Jeanne Tripplehorn), now an oncologist and the character who is in each of the five short films.

Next we meet “Cheyanne”, a young exotic dancer with a husband who is an enforcer for the local loan shark. Sounds seedy, but the pair are actually pretty sweet. Lyndsy Fonseca is Cheyanne and Taylor Kinney plays her husband, Tommy. The young couple are stunned when Cheyanne is diagnosed with breast cancer. Director Penelope Spheeris and writer Howard Morris show us how the diagnosis and treatment affect Cheyanne, but they also show Tommy’s struggle with what’s happening to his wife and ultimately the impact on their marriage. Of the five, this story is the most raw.

Another young woman is the focus of “Lili”, directed by Alicia Keys. Played by Rosario Dawson, Lili is a self-possessed attorney who seems to have her life together, to the envy of her sister played by Tracee Ellis Ross. When their overbearing mother, played by Jenifer Lewis, finds out that Lili has breast cancer, it’s an emotional free-for-all as anger, hurt, and envy war with worry and love. Jeffrey Tambor, playing a male breast cancer patient, is a voice of reason amid the chaos.

Finally, we go back to “Pearl” and bring the anthology full circle in this final film, directed by Patty Jenkins. Having devoted her life to treating cancer and searching for a cure, Pearl (Tripplehorn) becomes a patient herself when she is diagnosed with the disease. Even though she has worked with cancer for her entire professional life, having it become so personal again allows her to deal with some of the questions and confusion she had at her mother’s bedside all those years ago.

Five is an emotional viewing experience, but the emotions are genuine and sometimes surprising (you’ll laugh more than expected, and you’ll cry as much as you’d expect). Never are we asked to feel sorry for a character or manipulated into an emotional response. These are stories of women dealing with cancer in various stages and situations. These are stories of how husbands, siblings, parents, and friends are impacted by cancer. These are not stories about being in the hospital or paying for treatment or the horrors of dealing with insurance. Five is about relationships, about the strides the medical community has made in treating breast cancer, and most of all, it’s about the hope of a future where breast cancer doesn’t exist.

Five premieres Monday, October 10 at 9/8c on Lifetime.