Fran (Daisy Ridley) is not what you’d call a happy person. Or unhappy, really. She dutifully does her job at a nondescript Oregon company, where she engages in minimal, obligatory interactions with her cheerful co-workers. In her spare time, she thinks about not being alive.  Then one day she inadvertently makes the new guy at work laugh (Dave Merheje), and her perfect existence is threatened. He’s clearly what she needs, but will she allow herself to have him?

Looks pretty dour from the outset, eh? But despite the title and the above description, Rachel Lambert’s delicately balanced film is a unique, human-scale dark comedy/drama/romance for grown-ups. Some audience members may recognize their own awkward selves in Fran. 

It’s great to see Ridley demonstrate her more subtle talents outside big-deal space operas (she played Rey in 2015’s Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens). No car chases or even big, emotional scenes, but the frequent silences convey oceans of power and passion. And, ultimately, it’s unquestionably optimistic. (94 min)