Morvern Callar

R

Released Dec 20, 2002

1 hr. 37 min.

Drama

List

85%

86 Reviews

Tomatometer

74%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When her boyfriend commits suicide, unambitious Glasgow clerk Morvern Callar (Samantha Morton) invents various stories to explain his absence. After several days, she chops up and buries the body. She then finds a novel he completed before killing himself and sends it to several publishing houses as her own work. When the book is bought, Morvern uses her first payment to take a Spanish vacation with her best friend, Lana (Kathleen McDermott), which turns out to be a surprising emotional journey.

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Critics Consensus

Morton quietly makes this quirky, enigmatic mood piece a compelling watch.

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Gareth v

A surreal and dark movie that is carried by the performance of Sam Morton. The subject matter and style certainly won't appeal to everyone's taste.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/22/23

Full Review

isla s

This is very much an arty/indie sort of a film. I'd say its about self isolation (in pre-COVID times, of course) and self re-invention or self expression. The plot was pretty slow and I didn't feel there was a lot of substance to it, although it sounded like it might be quite a poignant film, given the synopsis but that wasn't really the case. I thought Samantha Morton did reasonably well in the titular role but she didn't have much to work on, as far as the script is concerned. The use of light and choice of music is reasonably good, in terms of creating a sense of isolation and making you perhaps wonder about whats going on in the characters mind but I felt frustrated that we're not shown more, somehow. There were one or two plot issues I felt as well but I won't go into those as they'd constitute spoilers. I wouldn't especially recommend this film, no.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Samantha Morton plays a strange lost young woman who deals with grief (after her boyfriend commits suicide) in very unusual ways. As a big fan of Lynne Ramsey I expected to like this film more. Though the heroine's journey is full of whimsy and surprises, somehow it left me cold while watching the film. At the end I felt nothing despite Morton's intimately-grounded performance. But as days and weeks passed I found myself still thinking about the film and its idiosyncratic protagonist. One thing I'm not ambivalent about - this film has a great soundtrack.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not sure what the fuss was about… Presents as a character study, but doesn't have anything noteworthy to it, nor do the characters. Instantly forgettable

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Audience Member

Scottish director Lynne Ramsay's follow-up to her debut Ratcatcher is just as low-brow and affecting. Her ability to depict authentic characters in some sort of emotional meltdown is one of her strongest traits as is her ability to capture a raw and uncompromising approach to her very human stories. Morvern Callar is a hugely impressive work from Ramsay. It's minimalist in its style yet filled with such an unconventional beauty and despair and this is largely channeled by an exceptionally brilliant performance by Samantha Morton. There are many who may find its subject matter morbid or it's pace overly lethargic but therein lies the films artistry.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

andy p

Without CC it was too hard to understand.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Lynne Ramsay

Director

Samantha Morton

Morvern Callar

Kathleen McDermott

Lanna

Raife Patrick Burchell

Boy in Room 1022

Dan Cadan

Dazzer

Carolyn Calder

Sheila Tequila

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Alyx Vesey

Bitch Media

Ultimately provides little resolution for our tough heroine, and the way the film visualizes this discontent continues to haunt at least one viewer.

Jan 7, 2021

Full Review

Joshua Rothkopf

In These Times

Morvern Callar isn't just cool, it's downright arctic: Ramsay takes her alienation neat with rarely a chaser of glam.

Mar 16, 2020

Full Review

Kristin M. Jones

Film Comment Magazine

While [Lynne] Ramsay's sensibility is entirely her own, it approaches the rawness of work by Nan Goldin or Richard Billingham.

Feb 14, 2018

Full Review

Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

A wonderfully mordant and melancholic Holiday film.

Feb 13, 2024

Full Review

Josh Goller

Spectrum Culture

It may play fast and loose with trauma, occasionally striving to be too hip for its own good, but it’s nevertheless a compelling portrait of one young woman’s attempt to find catharsis in the face of grief.

Aug 11, 2023

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

Simply the latest chapter in what promises to be a most strange, idiosyncratic, and beautiful body of work.

Rated: A

Sep 19, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

When her boyfriend commits suicide, unambitious Glasgow clerk Morvern Callar (Samantha Morton) invents various stories to explain his absence. After several days, she chops up and buries the body. She then finds a novel he completed before killing himself and sends it to several publishing houses as her own work. When the book is bought, Morvern uses her first payment to take a Spanish vacation with her best friend, Lana (Kathleen McDermott), which turns out to be a surprising emotional journey.

Director: Lynne Ramsay
Executive Producer: Leonard Crooks, Andras Hamori, Barbara McKissack, Seaton McLean, David M. Thompson
Screenwriter: Liana Dognini, Lynne Ramsay, Alan Warner
Distributor: Cowboy Pictures
Production Co: BBC Films, Film Council
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 20, 2002, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 22, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $267.2K
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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