Demolition

Demolition follows Davis Mitchell, a successful investment banker in New York whose life comes apart after his wife dies in a car accident. Unable to grieve the way those around him expect, including his father-in-law Phil, he begins sending complaint letters to the company that makes a vending machine that failed him. The letters grow steadily more personal, and they draw a response from Karen Moreno, a customer service representative dealing with difficulties of her own. Through their correspondence, and with the involvement of Karen's son Chris, Davis starts to take apart the life he had built and consider what might replace it.

The film was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, his seventh feature, arriving after Dallas Buyers Club and Wild. Bryan Sipe wrote the screenplay, and John Malkovich was among the producers. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Davis, with Naomi Watts as Karen, Chris Cooper as Phil, Judah Lewis as Chris Moreno, and C.J. Wilson and Polly Draper in supporting roles. Around thirty performers are credited.

Released in April 2016, the film runs 101 minutes and mixes comedy with drama. Made for about 10 million dollars, it returned roughly 4 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7 out of 10 from over 137,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.9 out of 10 from a few thousand votes; a critics' rating of 5.9 from 207 reviews places it below those audience scores.