Atmen (Karl Markovics, 2011)

A 19-year-old serving time at a juvenile detention centre for a murder five years before is attempting to secure his release through work placements, which his sullenness and pent-up anger prove a hindrance to, until working as a mortuary attendant starts to open up his eyes to the point of life.
Breathing is a dour, ascetic affair, with the camera's constant focus on the nonreactive, nondescript lead bearing a large responsibility for this. However, it is also resolutely set against indulging in melodrama, even at cathartic junctures where greater expression would usually be expected and excused. It treads a singular path, preaching us nothing, just taking pains to faithfully present the dog end of life as it is for some.

6/10