In "The Thing With Feathers," based on the 2015 novel "Grief is the Thing With Feathers" by Max Porter, grief is manifested by a giant, anthropomorphized crow, who alternately haunts and helps a family recover from the sudden loss of its wife and mother.

Played by Benedict Cumberbatch, he is an artist of sorts; some people call his work “comic books,” others call them “graphic novels,” a term he thinks is “wanky.” His output is alluded to in the film’s atmospheric credit sequence,

The Thing With Feathers may be based on a book, but it also takes inspiration from an unlikely source — the album cover of the Who's 1979 album, The Kids Are Alright. The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday night,

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