Review of Chronic (2015) by Pj P — 26 Feb 2016
An unblinking look at how the living part with the dying, and what that final parting reveals about the relationships between them. The action moves at the slow pace of the infirm, yet generates a captivating g-force which pins you to your seat.
Bleak to watch, but utterly compelling in its honesty. Roth's character is trapped in many ways. Trapped in a job where death is the only outcome. Trapped between the strained familial relationships with the patients and his own ability to bring real comfort.
An ability gained from his own familial tragedy, which has trapped him emotionally. It is also an ability that can have serious consequences, since he pushes his real and sincere connection with his patients because it speaks to his own inner deadness.
Roth communicates all these tensions with great subtly and a masterful understated performance, accentuated by a director who is just as steady handed in teasing out the nuance of a great and disciplined script.
It reminds a bit of Sam Beckett's "They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more." For all the darkness pointed to by reviews, it is in fact an enriching and essential film, a film about love.
About how awful the absence of love is when it really counts, how unfortunately often that happens, and how love is the only thing that will matter to you at the end.
This review of Chronic (2015) was written by Pj P on 26 Feb 2016.
Chronic has generally received positive reviews.
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