SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT DYING
Cert 12A ★★★ In cinemas now
Silence is golden for the opening 20 minutes of Rachel Lambert’s delicately observed study of solitude and mental wellbeing, adapted from Kevin Armento’s stage play Killers.
The painfully introverted central character, played with quiet conviction by Daisy Ridley, barely utters a word as she absent-mindedly plays with her lip while reading emails or scrawls a brief platitude in the leaving card of a retiring colleague in the offices of Oregon Port Authority.
When she does speak to introduce herself to a new colleague (“I’m Fran. I like cottage cheese...”) the awkwardness that follows perfectly mirrors the aching loneliness and discomfort that permeates every frame of the film.
The new arrival (Dave Merheje) invites Fran on an impromptu date to the local cinema including a shared slice of marionberry pie after the film. However, a deep-rooted fascination with the macabre threatens to torpedo the fledgling relationship.
Ridley conveys her character’s insecurities without resorting to eye-catching tics, sparking lovely screen chemistry with Merheje’s movie-loving chatterbox.
At one point, he jokingly confesses to liking uncomfortable silences. There are plenty in Lambert’s elegantly composed but rather slow-paced picture.