Sometimes I Think About Dying – this beautiful and exquisitely rendered film, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, revolves around the reclusive and introverted Fran (Daisy Ridley), who struggles to connect with those around her.
Fran, who is utterly desperate to leave, hardly blinks when a senior co-worker sob during the little retirement party at work. As she softly leaves the room, she removes her piece of cake from the plate. She is consciously putting herself and the world at a distance. This is not because she is cut off from it or anything. She is trapped within her notions of belonging, as the film will reveal. Fran is shy and antisocial. She is an individual who is attempting to experience something once more.
Exploring the Inner World of Fran: Sometimes I Think About Dying delves into the struggles of connection and appreciation
Director Rachel Lambert adapts Stefanie Abel Horowitz’s short film of the same name in 2019 and Kevin Armento’s play Killers to create the film “Sometimes I Think About Dying.” It opens with contemplative pictures of the Oregon coast’s beach village. A group of pigeons perched in front of a yard. Some apples have clogged the sewage gate. And the grass blades move in the wind even though Fran is close to these brief, leisurely moments of beauty, she is unable to properly appreciate them.
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“Sometimes I Think About Dying” explores Fran’s struggles to stay relevant and make an impact, thanks to a clever adaptation of the original story.
She gets up, prepares, and leaves for work. There she locks herself in her cubicle. On her return to home, she plays Sudoku, turns on the microwave and gets some rest before going to bed. She finds it difficult to adapt to how her group of upbeat employees operates. Fran is now contemplating mortality as the day comes to an end, and she has hardly said anything. She would be curious to know how it would feel to stop being alive.
The drama is raised several notches thanks to Daisy Ridley’s sensitive and poised portrayal of Fran. Just an embrace is enough for them to notice; one need not necessarily change. The desire to live is what drives one to wake up each day, not simply the thought of dying.
