Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023) – Film Review

Director: Rachel Lambert
Cast: Daisy Ridley, Dave Merheje, Parvesh Cheena
Certificate: 12A

By Roger Crow

Is it too strong a statement to say I adore Daisy Ridley? Not in an obsessive way, but of all the people to carry a 2010’s wave of Star Wars movies, she was the perfect choice.

So, while fans like me wait for her next Star Wars movie – yes she is continuing with the franchise – there’s this curious little indie flick which she also produced.

The first thing you notice are those opening titles – over-elaborate and occasionally undecipherable like the producers didn’t care if you knew who worked on the film or not.

“A solitary, silent existence”

Daisy’s character, Fran, is an office drone who appears to live in a world of her own. Lost on the dreary Oregon coast, she seems as washed out as the muted colour scheme, and as days merge into one another, she goes about her business. At home she leads a solitary, silent existence; while microwaving her dinner, she dreams that she’s lying dead on a forest floor somewhere.

In these weird post-lockdown years, when office life sort of returned to normal, and yet didn’t as many chose to work from home, it taps into that numb, isolating nine-to-five experience.

Daisy, light years away from her English Jedi role, is magnificent throughout. Sometimes I Think About Dying is a beautifully low-key film and occasionally rather touching. That closing hug with the slow tracking shot at the end is a lovely finale.

One of my films of the year.