Grief is a parasite that sits in a mourner’s chest until they actively release it into the ether. Ask anyone who has grieved a loved one, and most will tell you it never really leaves. This phenomenon plays out in films in different forms: in a thriller (Searching), the grief manifests itself in the protagonist’s frenzied search for a reason for their loss; in an action film (John Wick), it breeds a vengeance in the protagonist, who succumbs to violence to release their grief; and in a romance (P.S. I Love You), it becomes a silent spectator to the insurmountable change wrought in the lead who is left behind. Transformation, however, is an inevitable outcome that comes to define the grieving protagonist. In recent years of global uncertainty in the aftermath of the pandemic, shows like Ricky Gervais’s Afterlife, Dead to Me, and Fleabag have charted new...