Underrated character actor Eddie Marsan (Inspector Lestrade in Sherlock Holmes) takes the lead in this lovingly handmade character study by Umberto Pasolini. Marsan is perfectly cast as social, obsessively organized council worker John May, whose task is to locate the friends and relatives of those who have died alone and persuade them to attend the funerals he arranges at which he is often the sole participant. He cares. Abruptly downsized, he makes extra efforts on his last case, and finds a new world opening up.

The out-of-the-blue ending packs an emotional wallop. For grown-ups. Japanese title: Omiokuri no Sahō. (92 min)