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A gloomy film that will leave you questioning.

An intriguing scenario is created in the opening sequence but loses momentum in the end.

Morvern Callar, Samantha Morton, a young Scottish girl who works in a supermarket, wakes up on Christmas Day to discover that her lover has committed suicide. He has left her a note on his computer, and his just-completed novel, suggesting she find a publisher. She replaces his name with hers on the manuscript. In a state of shock at first, Morvern eventually decides to use her dead lover\'s money and credit card to finance a holiday for herself and her friend, Lanna, Kathleen McDermott, in Spain.

Based on a book by Alan Warner, Morvern Callar is a strange, unsettling story of a young woman thrown into a state of shock by the sudden and awful death of the man she loves. We enter Morvern\'s world abruptly, at this stark moment of tragedy, and then gradually discover more about her as she relates with her friend, and with people she encounters along the way. The film isn\'t plot-driven - it\'s more impressionistic, open, a bit like a piece of jazz, and it\'s grounded by Samantha Morton\'s extraordinary performance as Morvern, though Kathleen McDermott is also very good as her friend. Quite a disturbing experience.


2 min read

Published

By David Stratton

Source: SBS


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