No. 67 Freeheld (2015) 62 of 100
Like our earlier watch of ‘Loving’ this is another ‘based on a true story’ film of a battle to right a civil wrong. It stars Julianne Moore as Laurel Hester a gay New Jersey cop who in 2002 has to stay in the closet due to the macho demands of her job. She’s partnered with Michael Shannon and the film opens with them covering each other’s backs during a drug bust. At a volley ball game Laurel hooks up with Stacie, played by the now Elliot Page. The romance goes slowly at first but eventually the pair buy a house and get a civil partnership. They come out to their friends, including a bemused Shannon, but tragedy strikes when Laurel develops cancer. As the disease takes hold, she writes to the Freeholders of the county to ask that her pension benefits be transferred to Stacie. Of course they refuse (otherwise we don’t have a film) and the fight is now on to secure the benefits that will allow Stacie to live in their home forever. Much of the film deals with the various co...