Winner of the Best Screenplay Award at last year’s Cannes Festival, Chronic makes Michael Haneke’s Amour feel like a Richard Curtis romcom.

Michel Franco’s camera intrudes, cold and clinical, on scenes of intense pain and suffering, in and out of which the stellar Tim Roth glides like a phantom. His role as a palliative care nurse is built on endless layers of intrigue, as a delicate professionalism hides what may or may not be a more sinister personality.

It’s a fascinating study of different attitudes to mortality, which makes the bafflingly misjudged final moments all the more disappointing.

Had it ended just a few minutes earlier, Chronic would be a knockout. As it is, it’s a difficult watch worth enduring for one of Roth’s best performances to date.

RATING: 3/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Tim Roth, Robin Bartlett, Michael Cristofer, Sarah Sutherland, Bitsie Tulloch

DIRECTOR: Michel Franco

WRITER: Michel Franco

SYNOPSIS: A home care nurse (Roth) works with terminally ill patients.