By Will Barber-Taylor

Set within a hospice and structured around a repeating day, Life Goes On follows Bill (David Bradley), a hospice patient forced to relive the same day over and over again. As he confronts routine, isolation, regret and the inevitability of death, the film explores the unexpected ways people find joy and connection when time is running out.

Death is as much as subject for humour as it is for drama; tragedy and comedy are after all two sides of the same coin. In death there can be much dismay and misery but there can also be a great deal of humour and reflection. In Life Goes On, Daniel Audritt and Kat Butterfield’s new short film, humour and a desire to enjoy life even in the face of death are at the very centre of the film. Bill (David Bradley) is a natural curmudgeon who cannot stand either his fellow patients, in particular Lizzie (Maggie Steed) who is in the next bed to him, or the various people who come to visit him whether they be old work colleagues or members of his family. When Bill suddenly finds himself repeating the same day over and over again and as time passes and he is seemingly unable to escape from this time loop, he finds that there are in fact things to be happy about. The plot’s absurdity reflects that of life itself – an absurd and strange journey that none of us know precisely where it might take us.

The humour in the film and the sentiment behind it is is precisely delivered and it is the wonderful interplay between Audritt and Butterfield’s script and the performances by the cast that makes the film both believable and incredibly enjoyable. Bradley’s portrayal of Bill as a man who is the very definition of grumpiness but finds a sense of real joy when he learns to relax and enjoy the bizarre situation he finds himself in works so well in part because of Bradley’s innate skill as an actor and the fact that the dialogue he is given is so well written. The interplay between him and Steed’s Lizzie is a joy to witness and Audritt and Butterfield’s direction makes the most of their skills and those of the rest of the cast. Matt Berry’s Dave is especially well served by the excellent cut reaction cuts between him and Bradley.

Life Goes On is a charming, heartfelt and life affirming film that imparts the lesson that even in the bleakest moments we can find joy and happiness, enjoy the sheer absurdity of life and embrace it. It is by far and away one of the funniest and most sincerely life enhancing films that you will be likely to see this year and it is a credit to Audritt, Butterfield and the whole cast and crew that they have created such a joyful, thought-provoking film.

You can read my interview with Daniel Audritt and Kat Butterfield about the film here.