''Chronic'' is a 2015

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Michel Franco Michel Franco (born 28 August 1979) is a Mexican filmmaker. He gained recognition for his film ''After Lucia'' that won the Un Certain Regard, Prize Un Certain Regard at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. He has since directed several independent fi ...

. The film stars

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (; born 14 May 1961) is an English actor. He was among a group of prominent British actors known as the " Brit Pack". After garnering attention in television productions '' Made in Britain'' (1982) and '' Meantime'' (1983), ...

, alongside a supporting cast featuring

Bitsie Tulloch Elizabeth Tulloch, also known as Bitsie Tulloch, is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Juliette Silverton / Eve in the NBC television series '' Grimm'', and as Lois Lane in the 2021-24 DC Comics superhero drama television se ...

, Rachel Pickup, David Dastmalchian,

Michael Cristofer Michael Cristofer (born January 22, 1945) is an American actor, playwright, and filmmaker. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play for '' The Shadow Box'' in 1977. From 2015 to 2019, he played the role of Phillip ...

, Tate Ellington,

Nailea Norvind Nailea Norvind (born 16 February 1970) is a Mexican theater, television and film actress. She is best known for her role as Leonor in the telenovela ''Quinceañera'', as well as appeared in the critically acclaimed 1987 film '' Gaby: A True Sto ...

, Claire van der Boom, Maribeth Monroe,

Robin Bartlett Robin Bartlett is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in two NBC sitcoms ''The Powers That Be'' and '' Mad About You''. Career She appeared in the short-lived series ''The Powers That Be''. She played the sister of a filmmaker ...

, and

Sarah Sutherland Sarah Sutherland (born February 18, 1988) is a Canadian-American actress, best known for her role as Catherine Meyer in ''Veep''. Early life, family and education Sutherland was born in Los Angeles to actor Kiefer Sutherland and his first wife ...

Plot

David is first seen in his car, waiting outside a house. A young woman leaves the house, gets in her car and drives off ; David follows her. He is later seen looking at photos of Nadia Wilson on Facebook, the same person he was following. We find that David is a nurse. His first patient is Sarah, who is dying of AIDS. He tenderly bathes and dresses her, and manages her daily activities; for example, sends her visiting family away when she needs rest and helping prepare meals for her. He arrives at work one day to learn Sarah has died. He enters the bedroom where she has died, and cleans and dresses her one last time. He attends her funeral, where her niece asks him if he is free to discuss her aunt, but he declines. He is later in a bar where he gets into conversation with a recently engaged young girl. He tells her that he was married for 21 years, that his wife was called Sarah and that she died of AIDS. David is reassigned to an elderly stroke victim, an architect named John. John comes to like David, who lets John watch pornographic movies on his laptop. David purchases books on architecture in a bookstore, telling the bookstore assistant that he is an architect, and presents John with a picture of a house (which John had designed) as a birthday gift. David's boss, Robert, subsequently calls David into the agency, where he is fired as John's family is suing the agency for sexual harassment, due to John watching the pornographic movie and John having an erection whilst bathing. David denies the charges but admits to working extra shifts because he was attached to John. He tries to make one last visit but John’s daughter sends him away. It is revealed that David had a young son who died with a terminal illness, and that the young girl that he was stalking (Nadia) is actually his daughter, who is studying medicine in college. David meets up with his daughter as well as his ex-wife, who has remarried but since divorced after four years. David's friend (and former boss) Isaac gets him a job with Martha, who has cancer and needs support for chemotherapy appointments. She tells him she knows about the sexual harassment suit but hires him regardless. Martha’s cancer spreads and David helps her when she becomes sick. Martha lies to her daughter, telling her that her cancer is in remission. Martha then asks David if he will help her die; he refuses and she fires him. He subsequently comes to her house and injects her, leading to her death. He calls Isaac and reports Martha died of cardiac arrest. David's next patient is Greg, a 16-year-old boy confined to a wheelchair. David is hired for one week, as Greg's regular caregiver is away. David briefly discusses Greg with Nadia. David is seen taking Greg to the park, where Greg swears at David. Later David goes for an outdoor run (he has been seen jogging both in the gym and outside during the movie) and whilst doing so is struck dead by a car. He appears to have glanced at the oncoming traffic before the accident.

Cast

as David Wilson *

as Nadia Wilson * Rachel Pickup as Sarah Holt *

as Martha *

as John Sterling * David Dastmalchian as Bernard *

as Lidia *

as Laura * Tate Ellington as Greg * Claire van der Boom as Alice * Christopher McCann as Robert * Brenda Wehle as Mildred Sterling * Kari Coleman as Sarah's sister * Maribeth Monroe as Karen - Sarah's niece *

Joe Santos Joe Santos (born Joseph John Minieri Jr.; June 9, 1931 – March 18, 2016) was an American film and television actor, best known as Sgt. Dennis Becker (later Lieutenant), the friend of James Garner's character on the NBC crime drama '' Th ...

as Isaac Sr.

Release

''Chronic'' premiered at the

2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 2015. Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel Coen were the Co-Presidents of the Jury for the main competition, marking the first time that two people co-chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers ...

on 22 May 2015 and was selected to compete for the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the

. At Cannes, Franco won the award for Best Screenplay.

Reception

Critical response

The film received positive reviews from critics. , the film holds a 76% approval rating on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on 59 reviews with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "''Chronic'' demands patience from the viewer -- and yields rich dividends with an affecting story and a committed starring performance from Tim Roth."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

reports a 69 out of 100 rating, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chronic 2015 films 2015 drama films French drama films English-language French films Mexican drama films English-language Mexican films 2010s English-language films Films directed by Michel Franco Films shot in Los Angeles 2010s French films 2010s Mexican films