Synopsis:

The Liver is a Gothic fairy-tale set in a contemporary folk-world of collapsing social care system. In Bert we meet an anti-hero, a compassionate but prosaic old man, who when left in the absurdity of endless life and brutal economics, becomes Lucifer, a bringer of death. Bert is transcendent, meta-physical. His only fear is decay which he fights with a daily routine of rare liver, cold showers and basic exercise. And Bert helps Les to live. He puts his sheets and pyjamas in the washing machine when he has pissed the bed and he will help him fulfil his final few wishes before he helps him back into bed, swallow two bottles of painkillers and commit suicide. Bert is a true friend. Because Les has had enough. So strangely it is Les who is worried about Bert, soon to be left alone in this world. Whereas Les embraces his end, Bert refuses to go quietly, fighting the dying of the light with a vigour bordering on violence. Even at the very end Les suggests Bert share the tablets, get undressed and get into bed next to him, “they’ll think we’re in love’. Bert keeps his word and waits until Les is dead before leaving. He returns to his own maisonette, takes his knuckle duster out of his pocket, unstraps the sheathed dagger at his waist and places them on the table. He sits and looks around the spartan room. He is still alive. His yearning for death unquenched.

Screening:

Saturday 11th May 2024 – Saturday Showcase Screening

Language:

English

Premiere:

N/A

Screening:

Saturday 11th May 2024 – Saturday Showcase Screening

Duration:

00:11:14

Country:

United Kingdom

Directed by:

Daniel Brereton

Writers:

Brian Martin

Producers:

James Copson

Key Cast:

David Hayman, Aidrian McLoughlin