Morvern Callar

A film set in Scotland. Morvern works in a supermarket. On Christmas morning she wakes to find her boyfriend dead on the kitchen floor; he has killed himself. He has left a message on the screen: the file of the novel he finished and a list of publishers to send it to. Morvern does not call the police. She stays in the flat for a while, then makes a decision: she changes the name on the novel to her own and sends it out. Then she goes on holiday to Spain with her friend, using the money in his account. What the film describes is not grief; Morvern never cries, never explains and never says what she thinks. The narrative does not try to explain it either. Sound is at the centre. Morvern listens to music through headphones constantly and the viewer hears what she hears; the cassette he left behind sets the emotional order of the film. The source is Alan Warner's novel. Samantha Morton plays Morvern. Lynne Ramsay directed. A strong example for anyone who likes British independent cinema and narratives that explain nothing. For a viewer looking for reasons, the film answers none of its questions.