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I just saw this film yesterday, so my thoughts are a bit cluttered. I'm interested in your thoughts... I don't think I believe in 90-minute dramas. 90-minute comedies, 90-minute action flicks, sure. But a drama requires at least 2 hours, I reckon. Epoisses put his finger on it with the torn diary comment (in the Do the Right Thing forum). This would have been an ideal opportunity to show more of both characters, to draw out this discovery, to give us more time inside their skin. I wished I'd had more time to feel Barbara's loneliness, and also to spend more time getting to know Sheba. I feel convinced that the original script must have had at least 20 minutes more between Sheba moving in with Barbara and discovering the diaries. I fell in love with all 3 main characters in any case, quite shocking for me. I hadn't expected to feel tenderness for Sheba or to hope that Barbara would find what she's looking for. Richard's character (played by Bill Nighy, who I adore) was a predictable object of tenderness and protective feelings. That Barbara & Sheba also awakened these feelings in me felt... surprising. And unsettling. I found myself wondering how I "should" feel, from both the filmmaker's perspective and that of society. Great film, but too short and missing the most vital bit (as I said above). Edited to add: I have ambivalent feelings about the son. I appreciated that Sheba spoke about how difficult she'd found raising a child with a disability, but he did seem to be yet another "angelic disabled child" - which reminded me of our discussions last month about Crispin Glover.