Dir/Wri: Laura Carreira | Cast: Piotr Sikora, Ines Vaz, Neil Leiper | 104′
A simple film with broad implications underlining the soullessness of working in warehouse distribution. On Falling follows a Portuguese woman (Joana Santos) whose world gradually implodes when she takes a job in a fulfilment centre in Scotland.
Unfulfilled in this repetitive job, Aurora’s life is only made bearable by some of her colleagues from various parts of Europe: one gives her a lift to work in the morning. But clearly there are other issues at play that have contributed to Aurora’s lack of emotional resilience. Why she ended up coming to Scotland, known for its cold climate and rain, or why she is living alone, far away from home, are never fleshed out in the rather slim screenplay, so she remains an enigma.
Carreira’s close-up camerawork keeps things visually bland to enforce the general tedium of it all, picturing Aurora performing a variety of mindless tasks with a handheld device that records stock levels. In the evening she eats in the bare kitchen of her flat-share where she meets a Polish guy called Kris (Sikora) who invites her to go drinking and later includes her in a shared Polish dinner cooked by some other flatmates.
Aurora is certainly an introverted character. Despite the kindness of those around she finds it difficult to open up or reach out them, giving monosyllabic answers when engaged in conversation. At one point she goes to an interview having had a lovely makeover by a kind sales girl in one of the local stores. The prospective employer couldn’t be more warm and understanding with her questions but Aurora just clams up and has little to say about herself, blaming a health crisis.
Portuguese star Joana Santos is terrific in her performance as an exploited but hard-working member of the team who can only get through their days on ‘auto-pilot. Has she run away from tragedy or some other serious crisis. We never find out. Facing up well to the task Aurora is clearly dying inside, but there seems to be a missing link in this watchable immigration drama. @MeredithTaylor
IN UK CINEMAS FROM 7 MARCH 2025