Breathing review

“You can’t not give a shit your whole life then wonder why it sucks!”

Wise advice for inscrutable Austrian teen Roman (Thomas Schubert), who spends his (admittedly miserable) life behind bars for an act of juvenile violence, then, to make matters worse, takes a job as a morguehand.

Here he witnesses death’s many indignities while keeping the world at arm’s length – a fault this modestly absorbing film could be accused of too. Thoughtfully shot by first-time director Karl Markovics (the lead in The Counterfeiters ), the only warmth comes from the stiffening cadavers.