ALZHEIMER'S Disease is a cruel and ruthless illness which robs people of their mind and memories, their identity and ultimately their life.

But imagine having to come to terms with being diagnosed with the disease when you are 50 and then finding out you may have passed it on to your children.

It is hardly the easiest subject to turn into a film.

But what makes Still Alice, based on the novel by Lisa Genova, remarkable is that what could have been a bleak misery saga is actually a thought-provoking and compelling tale about a woman who fights to maintain her dignity.

Julianne Moore won an Oscar and Bafta for her performance and the plaudits are well deserved with a powerful performance in the lead role.

Alice (Moore) starts the film as a psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned linguistics expert, known for her great mind.

So there are many levels to Moore's performance from a career woman at the peak of her powers with a devoted family to barely being able to grunt one word in the emotionally-charged final scene.

Alice discovers she has early-onset Alzheimer's when she struggles to finish a sentence during a lecture and becomes disorientated when she goes out on a familiar route for a jog.

She has a rare strain of the disease that sees her deteriorate fast. It is particularly painful to watch in a film which takes you on that journey in less than two hours.

It is heartbreaking but at the same time deeply respectful of the reality of those suffering from the disease.

The film also focuses on the way Alice's disease changes her relationship with her husband John (Alec Baldwin) and three kids and the brave and resourceful ways she finds of coping and not giving in to the mounting illness.

That is what makes the story so inspiring – because Alice does not give up even though it is futile.

Still Alice is also interesting because of the way it shows the various different reactions the family has to something devastating from huge concern to denial.

From selfishness to sacrifice, the different ways they cope with it is telling too.

Kristen Stewart stands out as Alice's daughter Lydia. The actor may still not be able to shake away some of the angst from her Twilight films but it is Lydia's relationship with Alice which is at the heart of the story.

- Still Alice is released on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday