Fran (Daisy Ridley) lives alone in a small town and works a mundane job at an office. One day, Robert (Dave Merheje), a new employee, arrives at work and they begin to flirt before he asks her out. She agrees to watch a movie with him and have dinner afterward, but her shyness makes it hard for him to get to know her and for their relationship to progress.

      The screenplay by Stefanie Abel Horowitz, Katy-Wright Mead and Kevin Armento, based on his play, "Killers," introduces Fran as a young woman who's taciturn, socially awkward and emotionally guarded. She's also sad, depressed and dreams about different ways to die. So, when you first meet her, she's at a very low stage in her life in terms of her emotional and mental health. How did she end up depressed? The screenplay doesn't reveal everything right away which means that the screenwriters have a solid handle on exposition. They avoid over-explaining or spoon-feeding the audience. The way that Fran and Robert hit it off by humoring each other through inter-office chatting is both sweet and amusing, i.e. how Robert randomly texts her about cheese. He's a movie buff and more outgoing than her, but there's more to him than meets the eye, too. As she learns on one of their dates, he's been divorced twice. Fortunately, Sometimes I Think About Dying doesn't rely on flashbacks to tell its slice-of-life story. Plotwise, not much happens, but that's okay because there's a lot going on beneath the surface and a lot of emotions captured within the minimal plot. The filmmakers do an exceptional job of finding the Spectacle within the film's many truths. Moreover, the dialogue sounds natural without any stiltedness or clunkiness. The supporting characters like Carol (Marcia DeBonis), Fran's colleague who's leaving the company, are well-written. Kudos to the filmmakers for seeing and treating the characters as human beings, warts-and-all, and for showing empathy towards them which makes them all the more relatable.

      Daisy Ridley gives the best performance of her career as Fran. She finds the emotional truth in her role while displaying Fran's vulnerability in a way that feels organic. The same can be said about Dave Merheje. While the screenplay designs the window into Fran and Robert's heart, mind and soul, Ridley and Merheje opens that window very wide, so there's a voyeuristic aspect for the audience as they watch Fran and Robert interacting. The ultimate sign of great fiction is when it feels like a documentary and you forget that it's fiction which happens often throughout Sometimes I Think About Dying. There are also some symbolism like water and, in a surprisingly surreal scene, a large snake. Poetry is often a form of protest for or against, so what is this film a protest for or against? Perhaps it's a protest for happiness, hope, overcoming adversities and loving oneself. That's open to interpretation, so the filmmakers trust the audience's imagination and intelligence. They also move the film at a slow pace, so they trust their patience as well. Moreover, they grasp the power of quiet moments and the concept that less is more. At a running time of only 1 hour and 31 minutes, Sometimes I Think About Dying is an engrossing, understated and poetic emotional journey. It would make for an interesting double feature with Fallen Leaves, Wristcutters: A Love Story and Funny Ha Ha.