El limpiador

Elderly Eusebio is a forensic cleaner whose services are in demand when Lima is suddenly stricken by a deadly yet unknown epidemic – people, especially men, begin dropping dead at an alarming rate. Barely is Eusebio able to eat a meal before being called to sterilize another apartment or street. In one of the buildings, he finds eight-year-old Joaquin whose mother has just died. Although less than thrilled by the prospect, he takes the boy under his wing and invites him to live at his bachelor pad. Their relationship is the film’s focal point but the movie is also a contemplation of and metaphor for the state of civilization as we find it today. This minimalistic, powerfully shot drama with elements of black humor is veiled in cool gray tones, emphasizing the bleak desolation of the abandoned and secluded town. Its coldness contrasts with the warm relationship that gradually develops between Eusebio and Joaquin. The talented director, who also wrote the script, avoids sentimentality, sensitively drawing the viewer into an atmospheric story of two lost souls whose proximity to death reveals life’s meaning. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)