I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. I think what surprised me the most is that I expected a movie about a woman that suffered from dementia and I got something altogether different. I've watched movies like Still Alice that were about people that were suffering from mental illness. The problem with those films is that - from an entertainment perspective - they are rather limited by their backdrop. Sure, you can be emotionally moved by the performances but at the end of the day you know exactly how the story is going to play out.

This film is different. While it starts out with a woman suffering from dementia it is not about a woman with dementia. The film is a study in the dynamics of family and the effects that the shortcomings of parents can have on their children. The story is delicately told and the three leads are phenomenal. I think what impressed me most is how the story played out over the final few scenes - it had to have been difficult to lose sight of the bigger story and to avoid clichés. I thought they nailed it.

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This is an Australian entry into the well-traveled Parent with dementia drama sub-genre. But there is an interesting twist that makes all the difference. It happens early in the movie and is described in the movie promo, so I guess I am not giving anything crucial away. Our June, for several years living with dementia after multiple strokes, ‘wakes up’ as her old self. Hence the title: she is June once again, not an old woman who doesn’t know who anyone is.

So for her it is just as though she traveled five years into the future, except of course that she got older along with everyone else. She is exactly the same person she was when she all but disappeared from their lives, so it isn’t surprising that struggles and disagreements she had with her children in the past are still present, though made worse by events that occurred in her absence.

The script and the acting is consistently strong, but by the time the ending came, I felt that Noni Hazlehurst deserves special praise. In most of the normal scenes she does a realistic and credible job, but she shines during those moments when her character wavers between the dementia and the more lucid moments. Without speaking we can see the struggle she is having and know what she is going through.

There is another plot twist to do with June’s past that I will not go into, but it also adds to the unique story being told.

Short of a miraculous and less believable happy ending, this is a tough movie to wrap up. But the writer/ director manages to brilliantly portray a realistic ending for June’s plight, while ensuring that it was also upbeat against all odds.

JJ Winlove from New Zealand is the writer and director, and had previously did a series of 12 short films. I trust he will get a chance at another full-length motion picture.