The Door (2008)

In The Door, we open with a young man sneaking into what looks like an abandoned city. We soon learn that the city is one of those evacuated by the disaster at Chernobyl. The man has returned to bring back the door of his old home. The door is a piece of tradition; his father’s body was carried on it at his funeral. Now the young man brings the door home for the funeral of his daughter, lost to disease from the radiation. The film takes place in the Ukraine, but is written and directed by Irish filmmaker Juanita Wilson. She brings a very contemplative tone to the piece. Snowy landscapes, the evacuation in flashback, a somber funeral – everything gives a sense of the desolation of the family’s situation. It’s a slow, very beautiful film.