Chronic

Roth does a superb job of making David unreadable without turning him into an automaton, especially in some oddly disturbing off-duty scenes that see him casually incorporate details of his patients’ lives into his own personal history.

3267d ago

Three years after winning top honors in Un Certain Regard with 'After Lucia,' Michel Franco graduates to the official competition with this English-language debut, starring Tim Roth as a nurse specializing in terminal illness homecare.

3267d ago

Tim Roth plays a nurse battling with the weight of his patients' pain in a film that engages with the way families often offload the care of loved ones to third parties.

3267d ago

Chronic is a bleak but rewarding drama. Unfortunately, though, it stumbles in the final reel.

3267d ago

Roth interacts well with Michael Cristofer and Robin Bartlett, who play David’s two primary patients in the story. But outside of their performances and Franco’s ever-tasteful approach to the subject matter, Chronic is frustrated either by convention or its own coldness.

3267d ago

Michel Franco’s Chronic, which won the award for Best Screenplay at Cannes despite having precious little dialogue, is a true feel-bad movie, filmed with unnerving precision. Franco favors long takes and shots framed by doorways, and there is an undeniably voyeuristic sense when watching David (Tim Roth), an in-home nurse, give his terminally ill patients sponge baths in seemingly real time.

3267d ago

A dour and withholding character study, Michel Franco's film invites more questions than it’s willing to answer.

3267d ago