Director Laura Carreira’s superb debut feature is reminiscent of Ken Loach in its humane portrayal of soul-destroying workA Portuguese stock picker toiling in a vast Scottish warehouse, Aurora (lovely, empathetic work from Joana Santos), in the eyes of her employers, is not an individual. She is the sum of the data that her handheld scanner feeds back into the system. If the algorithm decrees it, she is rewarded for efficiency (a bar of chocolate from her callow, barely post-adolescent manager). If she falls behind, she’s scolded by someone oblivious of (and indifferent to) the fact that Aurora is struggling on several levels: the unexpected cost of repairing her phone has wiped out her food budget for the month; the work is soul-destroying and repetitive. But most of all, she’s isolated, disconnected and painfully lonely.This terrific English-language feature debut from Portuguese-born, Scotland-based director Laura Carreira makes a satisfying companion piece to Ken Loach’s Sorry W...
Laura Carreira's "On Falling" portrays the lonely existence of Aurora, a Portuguese warehouse worker in Scotland, highlighting the dehumanizing nature of her job and her yearning for human connection.
