Sometimes I Think About Dying (2024) Movie Review and Film Summary

Review: Sometimes I Think About Dying has a very specific set of ideals and sensibilities, but I found I was able to break right through the mundane delivery and gleam a lot from the movie. Daisy Ridley and Dave Merheje share unique chemistry, and it’s quite unlike anything I’ve seen so far in early 2024.

daisy ridley dave merheje sometimes i think about dying 2024 movie — Dave Merheje and Daisy Ridley in Sometimes I Think About Dying (2024), directed by Rachel Lambert

Sometimes I Think About Dying Review

Sometimes I Think About Dying is one of my favorite non-Dune movies in 2024 so far. Although its competition hasn’t been very high, the Daisy Ridley-led drama is much more beguiling and complex than it initially lets on. And despite the film’s smaller scale and scope, it constantly finds new ways to make you interpret the simplest interactions.

I had tabbed this one as a movie I had to check out ever since its warm reception at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s never a great sign when a independent movie like this takes over a year to get a widespread release in the States, and at one point I was worried it would just get shelved for the foreseeable future – because at this point, anything could happen and I wouldn’t be surprised after numerous fiascos involving Warner Bros executives.

Nevertheless, Sometimes I Think About Dying is finally available to rent and own on VOD, and it’s anchored by one of the best performances in Daisy Ridley’s young career. She’s at the center of the screen nearly the entire time, with the camera often lingering on her facial expressions and physicality despite having a noticeably sparse number of lines in the film.

Sometimes I Think About Dying is a quiet movie, and it only works with a reserved performance that works this well and a stylistic vision that is similarly quaint and understated. Director Rachel Lambert is in her bag with striking imagery and a pacing that never slows down quite to a halt. It’s on the slower side, but the interactions and characters are unique enough to keep you engaged and following.

Comedian-turned-actor Dave Merheje stars opposite Daisy Ridley’s Fran as her newest coworker Robert, who manages to be the first to break through Fran’s bubble of isolation. It’s awkward and twee, but it never goes off the cliff or slips through the filmmaker’s fingers. There’s a firm grasp of tone from Lambert that never falls by the wayside.

The location of the film compounds the isolation Fran feels in her daily life. Her world is shrunk down entirely to a tiny coastal townhome and an even tinier office cubical. Her only comfortable form of communication is through Slack chats and whispered clichés. The performance by Daisy Ridley is one of her best yet. There’s multitudes to her character, conveyed through a squirmy screen presence and unwinding state-of-mind you can see right into.

Sometimes I Think About Dying has a very specific set of ideals and sensibilities, but I found I was able to break right through the mundane delivery and gleam a lot from the movie. Daisy Ridley and Dave Merheje share unique chemistry, and it’s quite unlike anything I’ve seen so far in early 2024.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance

Watch Sometimes I Think About Dying (2024) on VOD

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