Manchester by the Sea is a 2016 American drama film written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan that stars Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, and Lucas Hedges.

Affleck also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama; the film was also nominated in four other categories.

One night after hosting a raucous party, an intoxicated Lee forgot to put the screen in front of the fireplace, leading to a house fire that killed his children.

Lee is opposed to this as her history with alcoholism led her to abandon her family, but Patrick decides to reconnect with her over lunch.

Elise has committed to Christianity and sobriety with her fiancé Jeffrey, but during an awkward meal with them, Patrick finds he is unable to connect with her.

In response to this strain in their relationship, Lee takes steps to possibly extend his stay in Manchester and seeks to spend more time with Patrick.

In an essay in Cinéaste, Colin Fleming writes that "the question Lonergan invites us to ask ourselves is how on earth would we be able to carry on after an event so tragically full of loss and guilt.

"[6] Remarking on the way flash-backs appear suddenly during the movie, critic Anthony Lane says that Lonergan "proceeds on the assumption that things are hard, some irreparably so, and that it's the job of a film not to smooth them over.

"[8] Along those same lines, critic Steven Mears called the film "a study of grief and reticence that finds droll humor in those very sources,"[9] and Richard Alleva says the loving but tense relationship between Lee and Patrick "keeps the story nicely balanced between rough hewn comedy and delicate pathos.

[11] In early December 2014, while filming The Finest Hours, Casey Affleck told The Boston Globe he would replace Damon in the lead role.

[23] Principal photography began on March 23, 2015, with scenes filmed in the town Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts,[24] and the North Shore at locations in Beverly, Essex, Gloucester, Swampscott, Lynn, Middleton, Tewksbury, and Salem.

[28] Initially, Gigi Pritzker was due to produce and finance the film through her company Odd Lot Entertainment.

[32] Barber developed the music to complement her understanding of the essence of the film's scenes based on emails and conversations with Lonergan.

[30] To score scenes that reflect Lee's "interior landscape", she sent the music to her daughter Jacoba Barber-Rozema, an opera major,[31] then recorded her singing in her dorm room via Skype.

[31] For the opening flashback of Lee in happier times, Barber recorded her daughter's vocals in a large, spacious auditorium.

[9] Bobby Finger, writing for Jezebel, called it "an elegant white noise ... a hypnotic soundtrack to focused thought.

"[33] Caitlin Warren of Spindle Magazine said the score adds perfectly "to the raw emotion of the film without ever overwhelming it to the point of feeling contrived or cheesy.

"[36] According to Koresky, in the montage, "Lonergan thickly lays on the Handel, Bach, and Albinoni, making this sequence almost surreally operatic in its horror.

[36] The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ruled the film's score ineligible for Oscar consideration due to the volume of music from classical composers in the soundtrack.

[38] Shortly afterward, Amazon Studios acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film for $10 million, beating Sony Pictures Classics, Universal Pictures/Focus Features, Netflix, Lionsgate, and Fox Searchlight Pictures (Sony, under its Stage 6 Films banner, and Universal/Focus would later acquire rights to some international territories from Sierra/Affinity).

[2] The film began a limited theatrical release on November 18, 2016, and grossed $256,498 from four theaters that weekend, making for a per-theater average of $64,125.

It began a U.S.-wide release on December 16, 2016, opening against Rogue One and Collateral Beauty, grossing $4.2 million, and finishing sixth in terms of revenue at the box office.

[55] Manchester by the Sea received critical acclaim and praise for Lonergan's screenplay and direction, and the performances of Affleck, Hedges, and Williams.

According to the website's critical consensus, "Manchester by the Sea delivers affecting drama populated by full-bodied characters, marking another strong step forward for writer-director Kenneth Lonergan.

"[62] Anthony Lane of The New Yorker called the film "carefully constructed, compellingly acted, and often hard to watch.

"[8] Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt said "the exquisitely crafted, emotionally ragged Manchester doesn't just ask for time and effort; it earns it.

"[63] In a mixed review, Lanre Bakare of The Guardian gave the film three stars out of five, saying the "impact of this impressive drama is suffocated by the silence and suffering of its central character.

[70] The scene that drew the most critical praise depicts the characters Randi and Lee speaking again years after their divorce; Anthony Lane called it the "highlight" of the movie.

"[60] Zoller called the scene "a duet of mortification and mercy that stacks up with the best of Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies).

"[62] Affleck said he strove to show restraint while acting the scene, adding, "The challenge was to have all of those feelings and hold it without weeping and wailing and gnashing your teeth.