Morvern Callar

When Morvern (Morton), a supermarket assistant living in a small Scottish port, wakes to find her would-be-novelist boyfriend dead on the kitchen floor, she's unsure what to do, except carry on living. He's sent her a message hoping that posthumous publication of a book left on his computer might help her get by, but after the initial shock, Morvern finds she has ideas of her own. Ramsay's adaptation of Alan Warner's novel is as visually expressive, assured in its control of mood, and adept with its cast as was Ratcatcher. Morton is especially good (and given sterling support from newcomer Kathleen McDermott), making plausible some of the plot's more far-fetched moments, and really coming into her own (like the film itself) when Morvern takes a break in Spain and gets a better perspective on her options. A film that very clearly means a lot to its maker.