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A small tinsel-trimmed tree, water jug, Christmas cards and cup of tea rest on a hospital bedside table. Winter dusk falls through a rain-streaked window, casting long shadows across the empty bed.

Christmas-adjacent · 2025

Goodbye June

49/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 49 ↓
UK certificate 15114 min
Comedy · Drama

Kate Winslet's debut behind the camera is a deathbed comedy, and it earns its laughs.

Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 11 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas in good measure.

Two paper elves study a miniature hospital room on a workshop table. An empty bed stands beside a tiny Christmas tree, cards, water jug and cup, beneath warm light and a rainy window.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas is the deadline.15/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for the final act.5/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details5 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.8/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: partly.10/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionEveryone looks it up in December (250,000+ searches).11/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

62/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Warm in tone. Moderate threat. A bittersweet ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
The story

About Goodbye June

Helen Mirren plays a mother whose cancer has spread, and with Christmas a fortnight off, her grown children are summoned to a hospital ward none of them wants to be on. Kate Winslet directs her son Joe Anders's script, in which the siblings bicker, keep score and slowly come round, while the patient stays the most clear-eyed person in the room.

The CineClaus verdict

Kate Winslet's debut behind the camera is a deathbed comedy, and it earns its laughs.

Helen Mirren anchors it with real mischief, and the squabbling between the grown-up children feels lived in rather than written. Christmas arrives late and mostly on hospital wards, yet the season carries the ending, which hits hard.

A few family rows run on longer than they need to. Ideal for siblings who bicker at every gathering and secretly love it, though perhaps not in a year when someone close has been ill.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

15

Our take: strong language and a sustained, upsetting focus on cancer, dying and grief make this a film for older teenagers and adults rather than children.

Content advice & accessibility
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 15 certificate, and never looser than it.
Subtitles · Audio description
Check your chosen service and edition for supported tracks.
A first look

Watch the trailer

Official trailer from Netflix.

A small tinsel-trimmed paper tree, water jug, teal teacup and unopened cards sit on a hospital bedside table beside a rain-streaked window at dusk.

Trailer

Goodbye June

Watch on YouTube (opens in a new tab)Nothing from YouTube loads until you press play.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Head and shoulders photograph of Kate Winslet with wavy blonde hair and gold hoop earrings, wearing a black jacket over a white collared shirt, in front of a blue backdrop.Kate Winsletas Julia
Portrait photograph of the actor Toni Collette taken in 2013.Toni Colletteas Helen
The actor and musician Johnny Flynn photographed at a live event.Johnny Flynnas Connor
Portrait photograph of the actor Andrea Riseborough at a film premiere.Andrea Riseboroughas Molly
Portrait photograph of the actor Timothy Spall at the 2014 Cannes film festival.Timothy Spallas Bernie
Portrait photograph of the actor Helen Mirren at a fan convention panel.Helen Mirrenas June
Head and shoulders photograph of Stephen Merchant, a tall man with short dark hair, taken at an event in 2025.Stephen Merchantas Jerry
Fisayo Akinadeas Nurse Angel

Behind the camera

Directed by
Kate Winslet
Writing & production credits
Writer
Joe Anders
Producer
Kate Winslet
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Kate Winslet · Colleen Sturtevant · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Toni Collette · Eva Rinaldi · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Johnny Flynn · Marlene Landu · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Andrea Riseborough · GabboT · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Timothy Spall · Georges Biard · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Helen Mirren · Gage Skidmore · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Stephen Merchant · Raph_PH · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Keep the Christmas feeling

Music & soundtrack

That tune you recognised. That score you loved. Take a little of the film into the rest of your Christmas.

Every track on the soundtrack album, in album order.

About this music list

These are the songs and soundtrack we hold for the film, not a complete cue sheet, and they give no scene timings. Album track lists and durations come from MusicBrainz. Spotify and Apple Music links open the matched recordings; links marked Search open a search on that service. Album covers are each release's own, from the Cover Art Archive, credited under the cover.

Film Music Reporter: score by Ben Harlan, released by Netflix Music ↗ (opens in a new tab) MusicBrainz ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Goodbye June. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapSt Mary's University, Twickenham

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

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Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

St Mary's University, Twickenham · Andrew Curtis · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · What's on Netflix (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more Goodbye June

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

On set

A family project behind the camera

The screenplay was written by Kate Winslet's son, Joe Anders, and Winslet directed it, her first feature as a director, as well as producing it with Kate Solomon and appearing in it.

Read the story

Source: Screen Global Production ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

A large part of the shoot was on a university campus

London's film office lists the production as filming at a hospital site in west London and across the St Mary's University campus in Twickenham, where it staged an extensive shoot.

Read the story
On your next watchCorridors and grounds that read as one institution but were shot in more than one place.

Source: Film London ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

A hospital that was part real, part built

The ward scenes were shot partly in a derelict 1930s-style building in west London. The main hospital room, the corridor and a bathroom were then built in a studio to match it.

Read the story
On your next watchHow seamlessly the corridor and the ward feel like one building.

Source: The Curb interview ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Music & sound

No boom microphones on set

The sound team skipped overhead boom poles. Dialogue was caught by microphones hidden around the set, and every actor, including the children, wore a radio mic, so the crew could stay out of the room.

Read the story
On your next watchHow close and unforced the overlapping family conversations sound.

Source: The Curb interview ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

Department heads on their first feature

The composer, the production designer and the costume designer were all first-time heads of department, a deliberate choice by the director. Seven weeks of preparation went into a modest-budget shoot.

Read the story

Source: The Curb interview ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

Christmas dressing on the ward

The festive look came from small details rather than big set pieces: lights, tinsel and tins of chocolates at the nurses' station, chosen because the writer set the story at Christmas.

Read the story
On your next watchThe decorations in the background of the corridor scenes.

Source: The Curb interview ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

The Christmas in it
Snow on screen. Carols and songs heard: Silent Night, Good King Wenceslas. Set in the fortnight before Christmas, with the family holding Christmas a week early on a hospital ward, and a coda a year later. Good King Wenceslas is on the soundtrack album.
Releases and certificates
: Premiere. World premiere at the Curzon Mayfair in London.
: In cinemas, rated 15. A limited run in selected UK cinemas ahead of the Netflix release.
: On streaming. Arrived on Netflix worldwide on Christmas Eve.
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

Gifts for film lovers · Goodbye June

Something for the Goodbye June fan

Little gifts for someone whose Christmas always includes Goodbye June.

As an Amazon Associate, Cine Claus earns from qualifying purchases. Buying through a link helps pay for the site - it never changes a score.

For the fan who watches it every Christmas.Sold by the linked retailer
Good to know

Questions about Goodbye June

Is Goodbye June a Christmas film?

We class it as Christmas-adjacent. It is set in the run-up to Christmas and the family holds Christmas early for its ending, but most of the story is a family gathered around a hospital bed.

Who directed Goodbye June?

Kate Winslet directed it, her first feature as director, from a script by her son Joe Anders. She also appears in it alongside Helen Mirren, Toni Collette, Johnny Flynn, Andrea Riseborough and Timothy Spall.

When was Goodbye June released in the UK?

It premiered at the Curzon Mayfair in London on 3 December 2025, opened in selected UK cinemas on 12 December 2025 and arrived on Netflix on Christmas Eve 2025.

What age rating is Goodbye June?

It is rated 15 in the UK. The BBFC's advice is strong language.

Who wrote the music for Goodbye June?

The soundtrack album, released by Netflix Music, carries the film's score and an original closing song, Good Goodbye, written and sung by Gregory Porter.

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Elsewhere on CineClaus

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In this collection

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Goodbye June is in this collection

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