Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. No audio description exists for this film.

it has been a minute. This title came my way during the FYC season, and at the time, it was an effective drop. Tricia Helfer joined my shortlist for Best Actress, but ultimately ended up getting worked off as more titles came my way in November and December. I’m very much a person who wants to reward someone at the top of their game, and not the same few people over and over. there’s no question this is Helfer’s bes performance. Helfer has been a staple in nerd culture for most of her career, bouncing around various science fiction shows. She’s best known for the Battlestar Galactica series,but also appeared on Lucifer, as well as dozens of other appearances. Even for 2025, she was asked to do Primitive War, but also hello Beautiful. The contrast is stunning.

What is so interesting about her casting is Helfer is not used to needing to be vulnerable. She nearly always plays a strong independent woman who don’t need no mam, and that side of her is still here. It makes for a great story about fighting against breast cancer in this indie drama, based on a book, which is based on a true story.

Here, Helfer plays a model whose life is upended when she gets a diagnoses she wasn’t expecting. Her journey is relatable, as she enters her battle with strength, and determination. She has the support of her husband, but ultimately will end up relying on much more than him. She does have to deal with an annoying dept daughter, who just flaunts her drug use pretty openly at the beginning. Still, the film is compelling because Helfer feels like a warrior, and there’s this misconception that things like this don’t happen to people like her. But, they do. They happen to strong badass women all the time, and even though Helfer feels ready to kick in someone’s face at a moments notice, its about the increased vulnerability, not weakness, that makes her compelling, and truly transforms Hello Beautiful from being a run of the mill film.

Her casting is so initially odd, but it is what makes the film work. She doesn’t approach the film the same way Demi Moore would, or Reese Witherspoon. She has a strong foundation that she tries to maintain, and the fact that this battle shakes her at all is why Helfer is a casting boon.

Hello Beautiful could have easily become just another cancer drama, but a surprisingly profound performance from Tricia Helfer brings a different resonance than we’re used to.

Fresh: 6.7/10