Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Good Grief’ follows the journey of a man named Marc, who has to confront some difficult truths about himself and his marriage after his husband, Oliver, dies in a car accident. While Marc processes his grief, slowly getting out of the pit of sadness to go back to his regular life, he meets another man named Theo. The chemistry between Marc and Theo is immediate, but Marc holds himself back because he still thinks it’s too early for him to jump back into the dating game, even though his friends tell him otherwise. Considering how good they look together, the viewers are bound to wonder if Marc and Theo end up together. SPOILERS AHEAD
Theo Might Not be the Endgame for Marc
One of the things that makes ‘Good Grief’ stand out from other similar stories is how it is focused on Marc’s grief and love for his husband and his friendships with Sophie and Thomas. The film is more concerned about Marc coming to terms with his husband’s betrayal than with him being able to find love again. This means that his romance with Theo takes a backseat, and, in the bigger picture, it doesn’t matter whether or not they end up together. Still, meeting Theo changes Marc in a lot of ways.
Theo and Marc first cross paths at an art show where Marc is completely unimpressed by an artist’s performance and is a bit rude to them when they try to involve him in their performance. Theo is amused by Marc’s actions and later approaches him when they are in the queue for drinks. By now, Marc has also noticed Theo, and though reluctant, he accepts Theo’s offer of having a drink with him, but he rejects the offer when Theo asks about meeting later in the week.
At the time, Marc is still reeling from Oliver’s death and has only recently read the Christmas card in which Oliver wrote about finding someone else and hoping to discuss that at length with Marc. Theo accepts that it might be a bit too soon for Marc to go out with him, but they exchange numbers, and Theo texts him as soon as he is out of sight. Later, when Marc goes to Paris with his friends, he asks Marc to meet, and the latter, though surprised, is happy to see him again.
The evening takes a turn for the better as Marc opens up to Theo and the latter talks to him about taking up painting again in order to process his grief rather than abandoning his art altogether. The date goes pretty well, and they meet again, which shows that they are both quite interested in each other and might want to see how it works out between them. However, this is when they are still in Paris.
Marc came to Paris to settle Oliver’s affairs, the most important of which was to give up his Paris apartment. He later tells Sophie that he is also giving up the London apartment and is planning to move somewhere calmer and rustic, where he can focus on his art without any distractions. In between this, there is no mention of Theo, who appears in the film aria only in Marc’s art. When he puts up an art show, we see pictures of his friends and Oliver, and one of the pictures is of Theo. It’s quite a romantic picture, reminding one of the dates Marc and Theo went on. But this doesn’t mean that they are together.
Of course, Marc and Theo are in touch with each other. They have each other’s number, and if Marc goes to Paris, he and Theo may see each other again. Considering that both of them are into the art scene, there is a chance that they might get to see more of each other in professional terms as well, and it might lead to something more in their personal lives. Or, they could stay good friends, like the friendship Marc and Thomas have, even though they briefly dated each other. In any case, the point of the story is to show how Marc is moving forward in his life, not leaving behind Oliver and not being angry with him anymore or hating him. The answer to this does not come with another romantic relationship for Marc but for him to figure out his own way forward.
Read More: Good Grief is Rooted in Dan Levy’s Real Experience With Grief and Loss
