Sometimes I Think About Dying: Low-Key But Hard-Hitting Romance

An easy to miss gem of a romantic drama. See what our writer has to say about this new flick.

Alex Paine
12th May 2024
Image Source: IMDb
Admit it - whether you hate the Star Wars sequel trilogy or love it, we all feel sorry for Daisy Ridley. The endless media storm that has surrounded those films ever since the release of Rian Johnson’s controversial middle chapter The Last Jedi has led to negativity and abuse being hurled at everyone involved in their production.

Say what you will about how inconsistent the trilogy was, but one of the consistent bright spots was Daisy Ridley as Rey, who always gave a great and emotionally well-rounded performance even when the scripts were letting her down.

With Sometimes I Think About Dying, she has scaled back as far as you can go. Even for a smaller romantic drama, this is really understated, and Ridley proves that she has immense versatility with her acting chops. Her lead character here, a dejected office worker called Fran, is a woman of very few words and even when she does speak, it’s only when the character absolutely has to. 

Of course, you can probably tell from the title that Sometimes I Think About Dying explores themes of mental health and suicidal thoughts. Fran has no social life outside of when she has to interact with her office colleagues, and the film very cleverly uses the awkward and cringey everyday conversations that take place in a workplace environment to show Fran’s alienation from the world and people around her. 

The film is also a lot more romantic than I was anticipating

The film tackles these themes expertly. It’d be easy for films like this to beat the audience over the head with Fran’s depression and her unwillingness to engage in society, but the minimal dialogue given to Ridley, and the dreamy cinematography which presents us with a lot of dark and striking imagery, already does this without needing an overly-written speech about Fran’s woes.

The film is also a lot more romantic than I was anticipating. I deliberately went into this film blind but I was expecting a moody and introspective look at mental health, one that wouldn’t necessarily be comfort viewing. However, as we get into the film it becomes a subdued but still very powerful love story between Fran and a new employee called Robert, with some simple but really pretty scenes of them bonding. The contrast between the mundanity of these scenes with the morbid fantastical imagery in Fran’s dreams makes for a romance plot that feels richer and more powerful, and an exploration of depression that never resorts to being preachy.

It’s not a perfect film. It can feel a little short for what it’s trying to accomplish, and I wish there was a longer end coda to wrap things up in a more satisfying way. However, Sometimes I Think About Dying is still a brilliant low-key drama that offers a really unique look at its subject matter, and I highly recommend checking it out while it’s still in cinemas. Daisy Ridley deserves this second chance.

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