“I’m just going to steal her,” was the most telling line from Tim Roth’s character, overly-empathetic palliative care nurse David, as he administered end-of-life treatment to a patient in Mexican director Michel Franco’s unrelentingly heavy latest feature.
The Palme d’Or-nominated Chronic saw our lonely protagonist try to fill the void in his own life by visiting the homes of sufferers of debilitating illnesses, becoming closer to them than even family.
Portrayed as a treadmill of endless pain (often viewed as jogging in the gym), both physically and emotionally, David’s fate was to absorb this, with his extraordinary dedication to his job his potential undoing. One scene where he and cancer patient Marta (Robin Bartlett) sat watching a documentary on black holes lent an air of inevitability to proceedings as things spiralled out of control.
After Lucia director Franco’s understated style perfectly captured the monotony and stillness of being housebound, along with the calm radiating from Roth, verging on something darker.
An enigmatic, subtly devastating performance from Roth was matched by equally deft turns from a strong support cast - in particular Michael Cristofer as grumpy stroke victim John - as we felt every blow relentlessly pounding a deceptively vulnerable soul.
Four stars
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