Dead in a Week (Or Your Money Back)

After failing to commit suicide seven times, "10 if you count cries for help", William (Aneurin Barnard) enlists the help of aging assassin Leslie (Tom Wilkinson) to do it for him. Complications arise when William begins to doubt whether he actually wants to die, and Leslie is adamant to fulfill his contract within the week no matter what. This bizarre summary doesn't sound like it could successfully make an entire 90-minute movie, and yet, surprisingly, it did.

As you would expect, the film is full of dark, dry humour: from William's failed suicide attempts, to choosing the way he wants to die, to casually accepting his fate. Despite this, it never borders onto being offensive. If you've suffered from depression, you will probably sympathise with William and often find yourself thinking "I really shouldn't be laughing at this, but I am". After William, a failed writer, has signed his death contract, he gets offered a meeting with a publisher; everyone can probably relate to this kind of irony, if not to such an extreme extent.

As well as William, the film also follows the life of Leslie, who has to fill in one final quota in order to keep his job or else face retirement. His home life is relatively normal, and the juxtaposition of Leslie's family life to his job as a hitman is amusing to say the least. While his wife is worrying about winning an embroidery competition, Leslie is considering the best way to kill someone.

Leslie's boss, Harvey, is played by Christopher Eccleston, who is almost unrecognisable to those of us who know him from his days in Doctor Who. He nails the gangster-like voice so well that I began questioning if I was actually watching the same actor. The confrontation scenes between him and Leslie have the look of a crime thriller but the dialogue of a comedy, making for an interesting dynamic.

There's also a slight love story aspect when Ellie, interested in turning William's work into a book, comes into his life. Again, this could've gone terribly wrong - not wanting to die anymore because you've fallen in love? So cliché. Yet this isn't the focus of the movie, and it doesn't become overwhelmingly romantic.

Perhaps some people may think the subject matter inappropriate; maybe you have to have suffered from depression to be able to appreciate the irony and humour. The film could have easily gone into cheesy or cringe-worthy territory, but it manages to avoid that and still keep an overall suitably serious tone.

With good performances all round, the film nails the tone: sombre, but still humorous, with a nice amount of action too. Overall, a very British comedy.

A pleasant dark comedy that will surprise you with uniqueness and excellent story telling. The moral of the movie isn't bad either. As long as you don't have high expectations, this will deliver.

It's not often that a film really manages to keep a balance in tone, but boy, this one delivered. The humour really hinges on the ridiculous premise: that one can hire an assassin 'outsource suicide'. It's really quite rare that a movie will tackle such a matter with nuance and care, especially in a comedy, but it was handled expertly and extremely maturely. As someone who has struggled with suicidal thoughts, it was refreshing to be able to see just how silly the notion of suicide really is, captured in witty dialogue and interesting visuals. I have seen many reviews complaining that it is slow and boring, and that there really isn't much that is new in this film, but I do disagree. The way the characters treat the reality of the world and death is very similar to 'The End of the F***ing World'; it doesn't underestimate the maturity of the audience, instead choosing to baldly and boldly present to us a case that ultimately utterly convinces me the worthiness of life.

Everything that's going to happen seems very obvious but it's still nice to watch. They could have tried taking some risks with the plot. Eccleston's involvement not much more than a cameo but Wilkinson is just as accomplished an actor and the younger cast do a damn good job of it. It's very English though if you like that then you'll appreciate this. It's a damn sight better than Seat 25 anyway.

REVIEW - DEAD IN A WEEK (OR YOUR MONEY BACK)

Suicide is a serious subject or so I thought until I saw this British made (very) dark comedy about a young man wanting and failing to take his own life.

I know, a strange film and an even stronger review, but actually this film was surprisingly good.

As I've said some very dark humour and certainly not a subject that will appeal to most but with the twists and turns you actually enjoy the fact that the central character has hired an assassin to kill him in one week or get his money back.

Whilst the subject matter of the film is about suicide actually the film promotes one simple truth......

Life is precious.

Rating 7 out of 10