Most People Die On Sundays, written and directed by and starred in by Iair Said, is a very personal, heartfelt portrait of the absurdities of life and death.
Families
by Alexa DalbyMost People Die On Sundays
CAUTION: Here be spoilers
Just what you didn’t know you needed, but you do – a comedy about death and euthanasia.
Debut feature director Iair Said plays David, a chubby, gay (but it’s not about that), Jewish loser in his 30s, who, despite an unflattering opening scene, elicits our sympathy in the course of the film.
He returns from Europe to Buenos Aires for his uncle’s funeral amid mishaps, and thus reconnects with his large Jewish family, having to become acquainted with the hidden costs of death. He is drawn into religious observances, such as the horrendous but sensitive Passover dinner (an ensemble set-piece), that he had almost forgotten about, and the absurdities of family life. He goes back to living with his mother (Rita Cortese)
and sees that as failure at his age. Meanwhile, his father is in a clinic in a coma and his mother wants to turn off his respirator.
Heretic says, “Most People Die On Sundays combines a heartfelt, personal tale with the entertaining absurdities of generational angst, the search for love and the bureaucracy of loss. It’s as much a film about family bonding as it is about finding the right place in a strange world.”
The film is loosely based on Said’s own real-life experience. It’s a slight but fast-moving mixture of reality, regret and the absurdity of life: it is unexpectedly moving and funny at the same time.
And the title? It refers to Sair’s Jewishness. If someone dies on a Friday, religious restrictions mean they can’t be buried until Sunday, and their death is registered then, as if Friday and Saturday did not exist.
Most People Die On Sundays had its Cannes première in the Acid section on 18 May 2024 and screens also on 19 and 20 May. International sales Heretic and representation Makna Presse
