Movie Review: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)

by Wendy, Retirement Enthusiast


The Best Exotic Marygold Hotel, is a movie all about aging
with hope, which is based on a 2004 novel "These Foolish Things", by Deborah Moggach.

British pensioners on a tight budget move to a retirement home in India; their adventures there giving them a new lease on life. I am loving this movie right now... eight years after it was out! Yikes!

Life does not stand still. Even as we age, we are evolving and changing... and this movie is all about evolving senior lives.

In this movie, you’ll follow British seniors who have moved to India, an exotic country. I personally love learning about different cultures and lifestyles so that was a big plus for me. It also takes these seniors and puts them into completely different lifestyles than they were used to which is really interesting too!

You will watch transformations happen while you watch this movie. I love the ups and downs of life throughout the movie.

  • There is a loving woman (Judy Dench... loved her in this movie) who learns the truth about her long marriage when he dies.

  • Another couple who loses it all in retirement, she doesn’t take it well. She is very angry at aging in general. He happens to be a happy go lucky fellow and looks at life quite differently than her perspective.

  • There is a high court Judge who retires on the spot and goes to India to seek a loved one and finds him again. His lifelong stress over this person is resolved overnight much to his surprise. If only he hadn’t wasted all those years…

  • Then there is a single woman and a single man, totally unrelated, who are looking for love and adventure in India.

  • A grumpy old woman goes to India for knee replacement surgery, ends up finding a totally new purpose in life!

    There are ups and downs throughout this movie but it's all about hope in retirement. I want to tell you more, but I don't want to give it all away either... so I must leave it with that. Most of the people faced a big loss in retirement, but the movie provides hope for us.

    There are many versions of happiness, with or without money, and it’s your perspective in life that brings joy and happiness in retirement.

    You can RENT it from Amazon and watch it at home, on your computer! I never knew that! You can also purchase it... Or Read the reviews and get it locally!


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