History Film / CollateralBeauty

* {{Gaslighting}}: Three actors are hired to act as Death, Time, and Love. The twist is that Howard clearly ''isn't'' coping with his grief before the gaslighting begins. His co-workers are only trying to "document" how bad he is already. [[spoiler:Then in TheUntwist, the ending reveals that the actors really were Death, Love, and Time, and were helping Howard's co-workers through their own issues as well.]]
** It's {{Lampshaded}} by Brigette, who is then disgusted when no one else knows what "Gaslighting" means.
* HeadInTheSandManagement: Its said that Whit and the others have tried interventions and all kinds of other stuff to get Howard to do ''something'' to keep the company going but have been completely ignored.
* HeelRealization: When finally confronted directly, Howard readily admits that his inability to cope with his grief has destroyed his company and forced the sale. [[spoiler:He immediately forgives his co-workers for hiring the private investigator to follow him and reassures them that selling the firm is the right thing to do.]]
** [[spoiler: The same scene rams home that the aforementioned friends all realize their actions were dishonest and repugnant. Claire especially seems on the verge of telling Howard that the whole thing was them when he starts forgiving them for having him taped.]]

** The central plot is basically Howard trying to recover from the grief caused by the death of his daughter.

* AdultFear:
** Howard is a deeply broken man after losing his child, and finds himself drifting away from his job and co-workers, and clearly contemplating suicide.
** Simon is dying, with his money tied up in the firm and he's afraid his family will be left with nothing once he dies if the firm is sunk.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Howard's co-workers hire a private investigator and a group of actors in a deliberate attempt to show that [[SanitySlippage he's lost his mind]]. They ''do'' sincerely want to help him, and they haven't been able to find ''any'' other way to get him to engage so the sale can go forward, but it's still pretty morally questionable. [[spoiler:When Howard finds what they've done he freely forgives them.]]

** Simon is dying, with his money tied up in the firm and he's scared his family will Ben left with nothing once he dies if the firm is sunk.

* EverybodyKnewAlready: Simon's attempts to hide his illness were not as successful as he thought. [[spoiler:When he finally tells his wife he is dying, she tells him she already knew. Even the totally-disconnected-from-life Howard tells him that he knew that Simon was dying, and he promises to help his family.]]

* MoodWhiplash: A sad scene of Whit's daughter making it clear that's she hates him is lightened a bit when, with a straight, stony face, she calls him a philanthropist instead of a philanderer and he proceeds rocks correct her.

* YourCheatingHeart: Whit's problems with his daughter are because he cheated on his wife. To his credit, Whit fully acknowledges this was all his fault.

* XanatosGambit: ''Hoo boy''. [[spoiler:Death, Love and Time really are who they say they are, and were just pretending to be actors in order to help Howard's co-workers as well.]]

* {{Deconstruction}}: To the usual story involving a corporate takeover where the decent boss who cares about more than money is undermined by his trusted employees. It's made clear that the firms buyers (who never try to force the deal) will allow Howard and Whit to retain creative control and that they ''won't'' fire all of the employees who have no better alternative, while if Howard continue tomignore thingd then everyone will lose everything.

** The central plot is basically Howard trying to recover form the grief caused by the death of his daughter.

* MyBiologicalClockIsTicking: Claire repeatedly is looking at donor insemnation websites while worrying she's too old and Howard notes she's worked with the firm for most of the window she could have used to have a family instead.

* OscarBait: A movie emphasizing emotion and los released near the end of the season.

** Additionally, when Howard sees the three actors standing on a bridge at the end, [[spoiler: it's clear that Madeline can't see them - indicating they really are supernatural in nature]].