The Cleaner

The story revolves around Tomáš whose lonely life consists of monotonously repeating the same routine. A funeral service employee, his job is to clean death scenes or places where people and their pets have deceased. This stereotype suddenly stops when the circumstances force him to hide in one of the homes he has cleaned. Tomáš develops a habit of staying in his customers' homes and secretly spying on the lives of the bereaved from the inside; this bizarre hobby slowly turns into obsession. The situation spirals out of control when he falls in love with one of the observed and decides to unveil the secret hidden in the household of his newly-found love and her suspicious older brother. The latest motion picture by a distinct Slovak director Peter Bebjak explores problems in human communication, showing how strongly we can be affected by childhood events and how difficult it can be to come to terms with them. (IFF Bratislava)