The one change that worked: numb with grief, I sat in the dark, surrounded by strangers – and began to heal

Life had come crashing to a halt when I lost my brother. But in the cinema I found comfort and a strange solidarity In 2022, my younger brother drowned in an accident. His death reset life as I knew it.

I had been offered my first proper job; I didn’t take it. I was planning to move out; I stayed at home. At this critical juncture, with my foot on the pedal, ready to enter adult life, everything exploded. At home, there…