An idyllic marriage, three close children, a respectable career as a linguistics professor: at 50, Alice Howland’s life is successful in every way. But when she consults a neurologist after having bouts of memory loss, she discovers she has a rare hereditary form of early onset Alzheimer’s. Condemned to disappear bit by bit, Alice tries to remain present for the family that means so much to her.

Picture gallery

Still Alice is one of those average movies that are eclipsed by the performance of an actor. Winner of the Best Actress Oscar after four previous nominations, Julianne Moore does all the heavy lifting in this serious melodrama with an intense personal dimension by Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer. Supported by Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart and Kate Bosworth, Moore is in every scene, giving all her strength to carry the movie. She is the heart that beats ever more weakly within a plot that offers neither hitches nor surprises, offering the actress all the space she needs to do what she does best: shine. A well-deserved Oscar, even if Still Alice is far from the best movie in Moore’s amazing career.