Sometimes I Think About Dying

Sometimes I Think About Dying

Fran likes to think about dying. It brings sensation to her quiet life. When she makes the new guy at work laugh, it leads to more: a date, a slice of pie, a conversation, a spark. The only thing standing in their way is Fran herself.

  • Released: 2023-01-19
  • Runtime: 91 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
  • Stars: Daisy Ridley, Dave Merheje, Megan Stalter, Bree Elrod, Brittany O'Grady, Parvesh Cheena, Marcia DeBonis, Ayanna Berkshire, Jeb Berrier, Lauren Beveridge, June Eisler, Rich Hinz, Sean Tarjyoto
  • Director: Rachel Lambert
 Comments
  • federovsky - 30 April 2024
    A nice elegiac tone is all
    An introverted girl works in an office full of extroverts. That's it.

    For a while I was enjoying this because I thought it was a profound study of the effects of multiculturalism. The office is so diverse in its staff that evidently everyone has to dumb down their speech and behaviour to the point of childishness to avoid doing or saying anything offensive. The result is an office full of apparent (or actual) simpletons. Listening to their inane banter is excruciating. Any existential comment would have been met with startled silence.

    Someone of depth and nuance who finds themselves in that kind of social environment is going to wonder if they have landed on another planet. The girl in the film doesn't even attempt to cope with it by at least pretending to be cheerful in order to reduce the friction. She just carries on digging a deeper hole for herself by making no effort whatsoever so it is hard to feel any pity for her.

    The 'boyfriend', we discover, has no work experience at all. Then we learn that he has been married twice! How does that work? It doesn't. The writer, director, producers, and all of the cast and crew apparently never noticed the absurdity of this contradiction. I don't think I've ever seen such shoddy narrative construction in a film.

    Later, we discover the retiree woman has been faking cheerfulness - does that imply that underneath all the simple-minded childishness of everyone in the office are deeper, suppressed undercurrents? It's hard to believe it. The simplistic interpretation is actually what it is about. Everyone goes nuts over a box of donuts, and that's actually the way they are and, the film implies, the proper way to be. The boyfriend character, once we have found out something about him, is still an annoying simpleton. The office crowd are happy because the are genuine and open and uncritical; the girl is miserable because she is self-oppressed and perhaps she has actual mental problems anyway, which just makes it less interesting.

    The film, being too afraid to delve deeper or be more honest about the world, was in the end as superficial as its characters.
  • arungeorge13 - 21 March 2024
    Daisy Ridley's captivating performance is the highlight! [+73%]
    As much as I loved the style in which director Rachel Lambert explored a few weeks in the largely uneventful (but..eventful too.. sort of?) life of a socially awkward isolation-enjoyer, what spoke to me is her sense of visual aesthetics. The port city of Astoria, Orgeon is a distinct character within the film, and its laidback stillness is something I grew to like. Several frames delineate the notion, and I think they sublimely complimented the life that Fran (Daisy Ridley) lives. She enjoys her work, but loves running away from the small talk that the office brings. She awkwardly exits office gatherings, including one where a longtime colleague of hers is retiring. There's greater meaning to most of these little moments, but not everything has a meaty payoff.

    The film's delicate pacing is, at times, broken through banter between Fran and her new colleague Robert (Dave Merheje), as well as through sudden transitions where she ponders over death (..her death, i.e.). This is the most I've enjoyed a Daisy Ridley performance in years, and it speaks volumes when an actor can convey the right emotions through subtle changes in body language. Fran isn't much of a talker per se, but when she does, she's also less curious. She slowly grows to love movies and being around people, thanks to Robert's interventions. I like how the film addresses the issue of Robert being unable to fully comprehend Fran as a person. There are layers to her than even we (..as audiences..) cannot fully peel off. We know next-to-nothing about her family, and the circumstances in which she grew up. We know she ain't suicidal, but she doesn't seem to relish life all that much either.

    Actually, a lot of unsaid elements contribute to further, deeper readings of Fran's demeanor. Her depressing thoughts on death aside, there's one moving scene towards the end where she randomly encounters the retired ex-colleague and learns how life is so unpredictable and difficult, underneath all the "plaster" that we add to it. I got to know that the film is based on a 2013 play called Killers, and it, sure as hell, makes for splendid material on the stage. I'm glad though, that Lambert decided to make it into a film, as mundanity of life is something that's less discussed in the world of cinema. Dabney Morris' score adds to the understated nature of its proceedings, making the experience even better.