Although Still Alice did not win an Oscar this year, Julianne Moore won best actress for her portrayal as a fifty year old Columbia University linguistics professor who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s Disease. The movie centers on the heartbreaking descent of Alice Howland’s loss of memory and the impact not only on Alice, but on her family as well.

As Alice slowly slips into dementia, her family is left to struggle with the unfairness of the disease and the loss of a brilliant woman still in her prime. Alec Baldwin plays the role of the husband who is in denial and unable to cope with his wife’s disease. The three children, grown up and on the verge of their own lives and careers, each react to their mother’s illness in different ways. The youngest daughter, played by Kristen Scott, has had the most tumultuous relationship with her mother because of her career choice as an actress. Ironically, she is the only family member to allow Alice respect and dignity even when Alice no longer knows who she is or who her children are.

Julianne Moore captures the frustrations and even humor of a bright and successful woman who is cognizant of how the disease will eventually strip away not only memory, but the ability to function independently at such a young age. Moore’s portrayal is heart wrenching, funny, and sad all at the same time. The scene with Moore running up and down the stairs trying to follow the suicide instructions her healthier self had left on a computer will make movie viewers laugh and sob at the same time.

The last scene, set in the Howland’s New York apartment, is full of sunshine and stillness. Alice speaks with her younger daughter in a few seconds of lucidness.

“You’re so beautiful,” said Alice. “I’m afraid of looking at you and not knowing who you are.”
“I think that even if you don’t know who I am someday, you’ll still know that I love you.”
“What if I see you, and I don’t know that you’re my daughter, and I don’t know that you love me?”
“Then, I’ll tell you that I do, and you’ll believe me.”

According to Alzheimer’s organization, nearly 200,000 Americans under the age of 65 are diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. At this time, there is no cure for the disease.

Lisa Genova, the author of Still Alice, received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in neuroscience. Still Alice was her first novel. Originally, the novel was rejected by several publishing companies prompting Genova to self-publish. Through word-of-mouth, the novel caught momentum and was picked up by Simon and Schuster. It remained on the New York Times best-seller list for forty weeks.

The film and novel poignantly portray the person Alice was, is, and will soon become because of early onset Alzheimer’s disease; however, as the title suggests — no matter the time frame – Alice is, well, still Alice.