WARNING: I’m about to spoil, yet again, another movie.

In all honesty, I never meant to see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. I went to see another one but when I got to the theatre, it was sold out, and I chose to see this one instead. I am so glad that I did.

Long story short, it takes place in 1998 following the life of Tom Junod, an editor for Esquire Magazine. He is asked to profile Mister Rogers from Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood, and forms a bond with the man that leaves a large impact on his family life and also the way that he looks at life as a whole. 

It starts out showing the family life of Tom, his wife and their child, horrible absent father in tow. When Tom leaves to profile the celebrity, Mr. Rogers seems to take a liking to him. Tom believes it is because he is a “broken person”, and Mr. Rogers likes to fix broken people, but it is really because of so much more than that. The television star really just has a caring heart, and he wants everyone to learn how to deal with their emotions. He tries to mend Tom’s broken heart with the help of his show and the characters he plays, such as his puppets.

By the end of the movie, Tom has made up with his family and is closer to them than he has ever been. He made up with his father, but he ended up passing away from sickness shortly after. Mr. Rogers even came to visit them, brightening up a few of the last days Tom’s father had left, ultimately helping the family come closer in the time they had left together. In the very last scene, you see Mr. Rogers in his studio playing the piano when he suddenly plays all the low notes at once. Earlier in the movie, he explained to Tom that you can take out anger in ways that are not harmful, one being smashing the keys on a keyboard. 

This part was when I started to cry so hard I actually could not see the screen. The movie itself was one of the best, most emotional movies I have ever seen. Although I never actually got to watch Mr. Rogers actual show, I still felt like I had. For anyone who did watch him, I imagine it would be like a nostalgic window to their past, and an emotional one at that. My final verdict, go watch it if you can handle a few tears. It is definitely worth it, even though it may have left an emotional scar on my heart that not even Daniel Tiger could heal.