STILL LIFE

A council case worker looks for the relatives of those found dead and alone.

What a strange little movie this one is! John May (Eddie Marsan) is a council worker who spends his time investigating people who have died all alone - he finds relatives if he can. If he can’t, writes their eulogies, attends their funerals, and spreads their ashes. He is the only person in the world that seems to care for these people. He even keeps photograph albums of the cases he ‘solves’. We watch John May do the same things day after day until, one day, he starts to get caught up in one particular case that captures his attention.

It’s a very slow, melancholy, but intriguing, story. Pretty depressing, actually - and even more depressing when the ‘climax’ of the movie arrives, leaving one with a deep sadness that people have to die alone. Eddie Marson is quite remarkable in his role - he is in every scene and carries the movie. A poignant, touching, contemplative exploration of death.


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