Starring Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Robert Forster, Blythe Danner, Taissa Farmiga, and Josh Lucas, the film follows two siblings in conflict with their father over whether or not to put their mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, in a nursing home.

[3] When Alzheimer's-stricken Ruth Everhardt wanders into the streets during a blizzard on Christmas Eve, her daughter, Bridget Ertz, travels back to her hometown to help her brother, Nicky, convince their father, Norbert, to put Ruth in a nursing home and face the end of their life together.

Bridget is dealing with her own immediate family issues as she's never connected with her husband, Eddie, while her daughter, Emma, suffers from anxiety and has stopped attending college.

[6] On March 17, 2017, it was reported that Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Robert Forster, Blythe Danner, and Taissa Farmiga had been cast in the film.

[7] On March 28, members of the Amboy American Legion performed a graveside service for a scene in the film on location in Westchester, Illinois.

The website's critical consensus reads, "What They Had finds laughter and tears in its portrait of a family at a crossroads, with writer-director Elizabeth Chomko getting outstanding performances out of a talented cast.

"[19] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".