I appreciated a lot of the thematic elements of the film and what it was trying to convey with Fran (Daisy) and her personality, especially as an introvert and an office worker myself. Some of the aspects of Fran's dull office job and her mundane life as a recluse really hit close to home for me, as someone who has worked for many corporate offices and currently lives alone in a small New York apartment (granted, I actually love music and have creative hobbies, unlike Fran!). Some things that are established early on are how she's frustrated and irritated with coworkers - who all seem to bother her with their bubbliness and sometimes incompetence. If you've ever spent time at a desk job and dealt with annoying people asking you dumb questions like how to use Microsoft Outlook, you'd certainly sympathize with her too.
And in Fran's personal life it's well established that she lives alone with a very quiet life with no real hobbies, and unfortunately deals with ongoing inconveniences of apartment life. She hears noises from her neighbors, which again, as a New Yorker who's cursed to deal with constant footsteps and wall-pounding from obnoxious people, this entire scenario resonated with me all too well - almost too well. The elements of her office job and her home were shockingly similar to my own personal experiences, so I can only imagine the director has lived a similar lifestyle. I would visibly wince in the theater whenever Fran's character would appear irritated by her coworkers invading her space - since my similar experiences in office jobs were nearly identical.
Aside from being introverted and antisocial, Fran also suffers from depression and has suicidal thoughts; this of course is blatantly expressed in the film's title, but all throughout the film Fran randomly has fantasy scenarios of dying by various means. My problem with the way the film portrays it is how jarring and sudden the cuts are to fantasy versus reality, oftentimes with the edits seeming bizarre due to the sudden juxtaposition. For instance, early on in the film Fran looks out the window of her office to see a crane loading freight on a large ship. She then instantly fantasizes about hanging herself, and the instant cut from reality to fantasy is a bit too sudden. I understand the importance of juxtaposing imagination to reality - after all, it worked great in the PTSD flashback sequences with Rambo in "First Blood" - but in this film, the suicidal fantasies always seemed so haphazard and shoehorned, and didn't seem to take themselves seriously despite the heavy subject matter.
The film introduces a new hire at the office: Robert, a quirky bald man with a beard and glasses - giving off major 2010s Brooklyn hipster vibes. He's immediately very chipper and talkative, and despite his clashing personality compared to Fran, she develops a fascination with him. During his introduction the employees discuss their favorite foods, where Fran is clearly bored and irritated that she's forced to partake in the activity at all. There's a part when Robert professes his love of Thai food to which a female coworker also mentions it's her favorite too - and it seemed as if the director wanted to establish some kind of jealousy or conflict stemming from Fran, such as a potential love-triangle. This isn't the case at all, and they never really go back to the whole Thai food thing or make any mention of Robert and the other female coworker showing any admiration to one another.
The next incomplete concept that seemed like an abandoned plot point was a chat conversation between Fran and Robert, where he admits his confusion over SKU numbers - and then flat out admits he has zero work experience and thus allegedly lied on his resume to get the job. Fran berates him for this, but he seemingly laughs it off. Again, like the Thai food snippet from earlier, Robert's incompetence and literal imposter syndrome is never touched on again in the film: there's never a point when his lack of job experience has repercussions, none of the other workers call him out for being a fraud - and instead he simply carries on with only Fran knowing his secret. Fran never reports him to her supervisors, no other coworkers call his bluff, and instead Robert continues with the job despite faking his way through.
Next we have a date between Fran and Robert, which really bothered me since its basic premise seemed out of character for Fran. It's been repeatedly established that Fran is extremely shy, quiet, standoffish, and averse to having fun with coworkers - yet despite that, when Robert asks her to go see a movie and have dinner together, she doesn't flinch at all, and agrees to meet up with him without hesitation. Again, in earlier scenes Fran is shown as being very awkward and distant from her coworkers, so it didn't seem likely when she decided to go on a casual date with a guy at the office to whom she just met and barely knows. The two of them have an uncomfortable dinner and movie date, where Robert does most of the talking whilst Fran just kind of gives basic one-word responses and looks visibly uncomfortable. They also go on to have a date at Robert's place - which again, was wildly out of character for Fran - and it involved the two of them having more awkward conversations and even a random kiss. Their conflicting lifestyles and personality traits meant they had no chemistry: Robert was a bubbly social butterfly with a passion in hobbies like film and music - whereas Fran was a frumpy, quiet, introverted recluse who seemingly had no tastes in music nor movies.
Fran and Robert later met up with more friends and coworkers for a weird game that was basically like hide & seek for adults. Through more backstory Robert revealed that has been divorced twice - and playfully places the blame on himself for being a bad husband. In a very awkward and tense conversation between Robert and Fran as they're hanging out alone together, Robert anxiously probes more questions about Fran's personal life, which infuriates her. She completely goes off and yells at him that his ex-wives obviously divorced him because he's so annoying, and she tells him that he's too nosy by constantly asking questions. Fran runs off and goes home to lay on the floor and weep out of embarrassment. It's implied that she spent her entire weekend laying on the floor sulking, sleeping.
Later Fran goes to a small shop and sees an older coworker from earlier: a woman who was retiring and planning on a sea cruise with her husband. The woman informs Fran that she never actually went on the cruise, as her husband suffered a random life-threatening stroke before the vacation began. The news really opens up Fran's eyes, and the whole "life is precious and fragile" trope causes her character to shed some of her stubbornness and introversion - and basically pulls an Ebenezer Scrooge by coming into work to treat her coworkers with donuts and act a bit more amicable. In other words, with news of her former coworker's husband's near-death, Fran realizes life is too short to be a jerk all the time, and to just loosen up a bit. In the film's final moments, she's confronted by Robert, and Fran cries aloud by confessing her suicidal thoughts. The two then embrace, the camera pans out to reveal plant life in the room where they were standing, and the film abruptly ends.
I didn't dislike the movie, but I disliked a lot of issues with the plot and storytelling. As mentioned previously, there were several minor plot points that were established and never really touched upon again. It's as if the writers wanted to have subplots - like Robert's love for Thai food or his incompetence as a fraud - but then never came back to it. It just seemed so odd why they would try to establish elements such as Robert faking his way to get the job, confessing it to Fran (who's clearly concerned by it), but then never mentioning it again. I was definitely under the impression that they were trying to set up a callback later in the movie where Robert's lack of job experience would somehow affect the story - but it didn't!
What did I like about the movie? The realistic elements of office work, social awkwardness, solitude, life in a small town, and being a single 30-something absolutely stuck with me - and were executed flawlessly. Fran was absolutely perfect in her role and was very believably a shy, irritable recluse with depression. Daisy Ridley was also cute as a button but not superficial like most celebrities, so you could truly feel empathy with her character on a very realistic, personal level. Maybe I'm just being biased because I've worked in office jobs for over a decade and have admittedly "zoned out" into fantasy worlds amidst the monotony. Daisy also spoke with a believable American accent, albeit her dialogue was very brief and sporadic - so she didn't speak nearly as much as other British actors who've portrayed American characters like Christian Bale has.
It misses the mark in some of the disjointed plot elements, quirky Millennial humor, and forced writing - but it absolutely hits the nail on the head in its aesthetic of mundane office work, social isolation, depression, failed romantic prospects, and overall atmosphere in a small Pacific Northwest town with grey skies. Some of the movie's design, pacing, acting, and plot elements actually reminded me quite a bit of the cult classic "One Hour Photo" starring the late Robin Williams. If you've ever seen that movie and remembered Sy's depressing life outside the Sav-Mart, you can definitely see parallels to Fran and her humble home life. Obviously it's a far cry from Star Wars, but Daisy truly exhibits her versatility in her role as Fran Larsen: a depressed middle-class 30-something with suicidal thoughts and a complete lack of hope for the future. Overall it's a bit rough around the edges, but it wasn't a bad movie, and I enjoyed myself.
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