A Man Called OTTO: Movie (& Book) Overview & Learnings

This story is not exactly a movie review or a book summary. Rather this is a small try to make untold emotions of the story to help us in our lives.

Recently, I watched the movie ‘A Man Called OTTO’ on Netflix. In the movie actor Tom Hanks performed the role of a bitter old man who tried to end his life many times after the death of his wife (whom he loved deeply).

The movie's plot runs around the situation where new neighbors keep interrupting an old man's life and many times interrupt the old man’s plan to attempt suicide. Those interruptions turn into fruitful close friendships between the new neighbor's family and the old man.

This helped the old man to accept his life more happily when his wife was no more with him. That was earlier very difficult for him to accept so he tried to end his life many times but failed on many attempts.

This movie is a remake of the 2015 Swedish film A Man Called Ove which is in turn based on the novel ‘A Man Called Ove’ by Fredrik Backman.

The movie left me awestruck and left me thinking about an important aspect of life which is acceptance.

We have so many complaints and grudges when things don't go our way in life. Instead of moving further with life we stay there looking for our loss or lost opportunity to recover. We stay stuck right there holding on to our grudges or anger. As if moving on is not at all possible.

But moving on is important, we can’t live a happy life by staying there holding on to our grudges and anger. If we do so then we become bitter and so does our lives.

But the question is, How can we move on? Is there an easy way?

To move on one has to accept what has happened.

Is it that easy to do so?

No, moving on from life’s hurtful & tragic incidents isn’t easy.

Why? Because we love to hold on to the past. We are used to becoming comfortable in our past, that we can’t accept our new realities. We love to play the victim role in our past story. But the life has to go on, and it keeps on going.

And when we hold on to our pasts we can’t accept the present. This way our future vanishes too. We stop creating our future.

The real meaning of life is to keep going with acceptance of whatever happens to us.

We can’t change what happens to us, but we can change how we respond to it. This response decides & creates the type of future we will be living in.

In the movie, while OTTO was not able to accept his reality, he could not move on. He was badly caught up in the past and refuse to move on with life.

He badly wanted to end his life as it was so difficult for him to deal with his reality i.e. his wife death.

But once OTTO accepted his reality, he began to let go of grudges and started loving his life with happiness. Rather, I would say, he started creating his life.

It is such a beautiful story of love, acceptance and moving on.

I hope God gives all of us the courage needed to accept life as it comes, just like OTTO.

Hope you like the story and learning I have derived from the movie.

You may like my other story, The Great Indian Kitchen.