Michel Franco's Chronic is a stunning, minimalist study of death, suffering, and depression, a film in which its exquisite craft is matched by its deeply personal examination of the profound impact which death has on all of us. The story of David, a meticulous and efficient home care nurse who works for terminally ill patients, Chronic is a narrative that unfolds organically, featuring a screenplay that manages to be mysterious, yet engaging, never falling victim to a didactic approach of storytelling. David is a character who is awkward and reserved in his social life, a man who routinely avoids alone time, taking double-shifts to stay with his terminally ill patients even when he is not required too. Chronic is a slowly unfolding psychological study of man who himself is suffering great pain, a man who seemingly lives a life of complete solitude, who shows great attachment to his patients in a way that simply doesn't feel normal. The film wisely remains detached from the true explanation for David's demeanor for much of the film, but thanks to a terrific lead performance by Tim Roth, and Franco's skilled direction, the character's inner turmoil is felt far before the audience learns of the true reasoning for David's internal pain. Featuring a static lens, Franco's minimalist cinematography evokes the emotion of its story, often holding on a single composition far longer than is typical, a cinematic device that beautifully mirrors the stillness and coldness of David's character, someone who we come to learn has long someone of his own. The film features absolutely no form of musical score, with the cold silence evoking the inner pain, sadness, and loss of hope that many of these characters experience, particularly David who himself feels caught in a state of chronic depression. David is a character of dealing with great internal pain, and through Franco's direction and a well-written screenplay, the film slowly reveals the reasons of his anguish, deconstructing a man who has experienced loss of his own due to death in his family. David sees his own suffering in every patient he provides for, with his dedication to them serving as a form a therapy for a man who still struggles with the death of a loved one. Chronic is not an easy film to experience, but it's an important one, a film that examines death with biting honesty, a reflective experience which captures the various emotions that individuals experience when facing their oncoming, unavoidable demise. The regrets, second-guesses, pain, and suffering are presented in a way in which over-sentimentality never even comes close to being an issue, partly because the film embraces the concept that death as merely a part of life, no matter the great pain it routinely causes for so many individuals. Chronic may be one of the most honest and insightful examinations of depression every committed to celluloid, detailing a man in David who is stuck in a perpetual state of despair. His quiet silence merely hides the great sense of hopelessness he feels inside of him, with his exterior presence being one of great human empathy towards the patients he cares for. Without going into details, the ending of Chronic is almost guaranteed to leave the viewer breathless, a potent and powerful conclusion to a film that attempts to peer into the soul of an individual who has long been suffering due to loss, providing the perfect conclusion to a film which touches on such heavy concepts with complete honesty. Beautifully crafted, Michel Franco's Chronic is one of the more powerful films I've seen dealing with death, suffering, and depression, examining the impact which this part of life has on the human soul with biting honesty, and genuine feeling.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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