On Falling
A deeply human cry against exploitation within capitalism and a memorable prize-winning debut by the Scottish-based writer/director Laura Carreira.
Corporate malaise: Joana Santos
Image courtesy of Conic.
An extraordinary expression of human empathy lies at the very heart of this remarkable film. On Falling is a first feature which has won awards including the London Film Festival’s Sutherland Trophy for its writer/director Laura Carreira. Like its central character, Aurora played by Joana Santos, Carreira is Portuguese but she lives in Scotland and this feature follows on from three shorts two of which were also award winners. If Carreira's work here is something of a revelation so too is the contribution by Santos who is apparently a well-established actress in Portugal but is virtually unknown to viewers in the UK even if she did have a supporting role in one of John Hurt’s last films, That Good Night (2017). But if On Falling is indeed quality work it has to be acknowledged that for many audiences it will not appeal: that is not an indication of failure on Carreira’s part but simply confirmation that as an artist Carreira is pursuing aims that will conflict with some people's idea of what a film needs to be. Those liking a strong fast moving story will certainly not find it here.
Because On Falling was produced in part by Ken Loach's company Sixteen Films, this study of working class lives has already prompted comparisons with one of Loach’s own films, that brilliant exposé of the gig economy Sorry We Missed You (2019). However, while both films share a deep disapproval of exploitative working conditions, there is a major difference between these two works in that Loach’s film had an effective plotline making it a story-driven narrative. On Falling is closer to avant-garde cinema in that its chosen form of expression is simply to focus on a working situation and to show the routine of repetitive actions which stultify the individuals caught up in it. Aurora has a job in a warehouse acting as a picker in what is ironically described as a fulfilment centre. Bearing a barcode scanner, she has to seek out and collect the goods stored and ready to be dispatched once an order for them has been received: she travels the aisles and keeps a record of what she has handled – each item picked up requiring three clicks of the scanner.
Depicting this soulless existence and making the viewers share the experience in a way that will open their eyes to this aspect of capitalism is the essential purpose of On Falling. That means, of course, that the film in no way seeks to entertain. Instead, what we have is a work made to express Carreira’s social concerns through art. However fine the intention, such an approach when film is involved runs the risk of boring the viewer and especially when the piece is as pure as this one which excludes any additions that might make it easier to take. Thus, while Aurora is the film’s fully realised central figure, she is not given a background story and we learn hardly anything of her history and family. She talks to the other employees and to other residents of the house where she has a room and which shelters others in similar need of accommodation and incorporates a communal kitchen. She is by no means unfriendly to others there but is worn down by the work and is to some extent struggling (at one point she can't afford to pay for her electricity). There is also the fact that she is a foreigner not naturally at ease in Scotland and somebody who instinctively does not want to impose on others. One newcomer in the house is a Polish van driver (Piotr Sikora) and with him she opens up a bit but those around – including many helpful in their attitudes – are living their own lives. With fruitful contact so limited, Aurora can only pin her hopes on an interview which she is to have and which, were she to be accepted, would take her into social care work and the possibility of a job more rewarding.
On Falling lasts for 105 minutes and in prospect I had wondered if its repetitive views of Aurora at work, the decision to put the hard slog of it all screen centre, would become an endurance test for the viewer. For some it probably will be. However, this is where the sense of human empathy plays such a key role. Carreira has found her ideal actress in Santos and between them they have given us a film during which, while viewing may be taxing at times, one never for a moment feels uninvolved. Without any recourse to manipulation or sentimentality, the film holds one and it does so through the way that it makes one recognise the depth of feeling on the part of both the writer and the actress. At the conclusion an event occurs which briefly allows for a change of tone and it comes off well enough, but the finest moments are connected with the job interview and its immediate aftermath. It is here that the film’s exceptional emotional power becomes evident since it leaves one not just tearfully moved as in a weepie but provides something that is decidedly rare in cinema as one experiences a sense of immense sadness. Whatever empathy Carreira and Santos have with Aurora, one recognises at this point that it has become yours too. That may not make what is a demanding film into a masterpiece, but it is nevertheless a real achievement, a small one perhaps but fully meaningful.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Joana Santos, Inês Vaz, Piotr Sikora, Olga Prokopenko, Billy Reid, Neil Leiper, Karyna Khymchuk, Damilare Akinrinmade, Ononso Nwafor-Orizu, Jake McGarry, Itxaso Moreno, Leah MacRae, Billy Mack.
Dir Laura Carreira, Pro Jack Thomson-O’Brien and Mário Patrocinio, Screenplay Laura Carreira, Ph Karl Kürten, Pro Des Andy Drummond, Ed Helle le Fevre, Costumes Carole K. Miller.
CBFI/BBC Films/a BRO Cinema and Sixteen Films production/Screen Scotland/ICA etc.-Conic.
105 mins. UK/Portugal. 2024. UK Rel: 3 March 2025. Cert. 15.
