21 Grams

Paul Rivers, an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English émigré; Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife and mother of two girls; and Jack Jordan, a born-again ex-con, are brought together by a terrible accident that changes their lives.

21 Grams earned broadly favorable notices for its trio of performances and the emotional weight Iñárritu wrings from a fragmented timeline — though the non-linear structure itself became a genuine point of contention, with some critics finding it an expressive formal choice and others questioning whether it served the story. The film sits comfortably in positive territory without quite reaching universal acclaim.