''Evelyn'' is a 2018

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by and starring Orlando von Einsiedel. The premise revolves around Orlando's own family dealing with the effects of a suicide that took place 13 years earlier by Orlando's brother Evelyn, by taking a series of long walks visiting landscapes Evelyn liked to walk when he was alive. ''Evelyn'' premiered at the 2018

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

. A year later, it was released Netflix on 10 September 2019.

Cast

* Evelyn Einsiedel, posthumously * Orlando von Einsiedel * Gwendolyn (Gwennie) Einsiedel * Robin (Robbie) Einiedel * Harriet Einsiedel (aka ''Beta'') * Andreas von Einsiedel * Johanna Thornycroft * Leon Oldstrong * Jack Binney

Camerawork and music

For large parts of the film, the camerawork appears to require an operator walking backwards. In fact the cameraman, Franklin Dow, had created a special camera rig that sat on his back with a stabilising mechanism. A screen in front allowed him to watch what was happening as the family/cast members walked behind chatting. The musical score was mostly composed by Patrick Jonsson who had previously collaborated with von Einsiedel on '' Virunga'' and '' The White Helmets''.Sound track from ''Evelyn''
/ref> One song was contributed by Evelyn's sister Gwendolyn Einsiedel, a musician in her own right who remembers singing almost every day during the making of the film, though very little made it onto the final cut.

Release

''Evelyn'' premiered at the 2018

. It screened on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

on 18 May 2019 and was released from 10 September 2019 on Netflix. Reviewers described the film as a ''raw, powerful look at a family trying to make sense of suicide''. It was chosen as Best Documentary in the British Independent Film Awards of 2018.

Outreach

Some reviewers have suggested that the film might be powerful enough to save the lives of those considering suicide. '' GQ'' pointed out that

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

is now the single biggest killer of young British men and suggested that ''Evelyn'' might help break the code of silence that tends to surround the subject. The film's website provides support links to help services including The Samaritans and Calm and reproduces a poem from ''The Smoke Jumper'' by Nicholas Evans, best known as author of '' The Horse Whisperer''.

References

External links

* https://www.evelynmovie.com * * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, evelyn_2018 2018 documentary films 2010s British films 2010s English-language films British documentary films Documentary films about suicide English-language documentary films Films scored by Patrick Jonsson Netflix original documentary films Suicide in the United Kingdom