Morvern Callar film review

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MORVERN CALLAR

We all deal with death in different ways - some of us shrink from the cold, hard reality; some face it head on, wrestling with a maelstrom of conflicting emotions.

Morvern Callar is an intensely moving character study of a young woman who copes with the loss of her lover by embarking on a journey of self-discovery.

Morvern (Samantha Morton) returns home one night to find her boyfriend has committed suicide. She reacts by stealing his unfinished manuscript, submitting it to a publisher as her own work, then using the advance money to fund a trip to Ibiza with her best friend Lanna (Kathleen McDermott).

The Mediterranean sun brings new hope for Morvern, but regret and the fear of exposure as a literary fraud, haunt her.

Morvern Callar won't be everyone's cup of tea - it's a mood piece, heavy on atmosphere, and light on plot and action. Very little happens to Morvern once she lands in Ibiza - she sleeps with a fellow holiday-maker and rows with Lanna, interspersed with island sight-seeing - but it's her spiritual journey which proves so captivating.

Morton's central performance is breathtaking, capturing the confusion and horror of a young woman, desperate to numb the pain of reality and escape into drug- and alcohol-fuelled oblivion.