Ms White Light

White light? Light at the end of the tunnel? Death experiences? The answer is, yes, but not in the way we might have expected.

This drama introduces us to a care industry (perhaps that sounds like an oxymoron). It seems a particularly American thing – it would be interesting to know whether other countries employ members of a company to be present for the dying of a family member, the members of the family unwilling or unable to accompany the dying person. We are left in no doubt with the opening of the film, Lex Cordova (a striking Colindrez) sitting by the bedside of a dying elderly lady. The family sit by, sad. Then Lex vehemently criticises the members of the family for their lack of care and empathy – and she is punched out for her trouble. Where is this going?

Lex Cordova is certainly an interesting character. At times, she seems to be on the spectrum, so objective and detached in her manner, her way of blunt speaking. We guess there has been a trauma in her life – which comes to the surface towards the end of the film. Lex works with her father, Gary (Ortiz), in an office which has a spare desk, and the father wonders whether they should have a secretary. Father and daughter dress in the same kind of suit. They have their takeaway meals watching television. Clients are somewhat scarce.

Lex is challenged by having to accompany a 17-year-old dying from a blood disorder, Nora (Meyer). With her great faith in samurai traditions and weapons, Nora matches Lex’s bluntness with bluntness. Nora will appear again, taking over the management of the office, continually challenging Lex.

However, the core of the film is Lex attending an elderly woman, Val, who has led rather a wild life, a free spirit, played with intensity by Judith Light. The audience really believes they are seeing this dying woman rather than an actress. Val is a great challenge to Lex who has some moments of bewilderment. And this is complicated when she encounters Spencer (Spicer) who also attends the dying, claiming to be a medium – putting the dying person in touch with characters from the past. Val employs a number of assistants to her dying, even some of the staff who play cards with her. There are serious and comic moments, with the situation with Spencer becoming more and more complicated.

It is healthy to see a film dealing with some of the realities of death, hospitals, professional staff, the reactions of family, challenges to family and their care and lack of care. And, the experiences of death, the loneliness, and the effect of the presence of someone close.

Lex is such a complicated character, bewildering at times, but she draws us deeper into her own responses, her own life and questions, the realities of being alive, and the realities of dying.

(The writer-director of this film, Paul Shoulberg, made the interesting, little seen, The Good Catholic, a blend of comedy and drama about life in the rectory of three priests and their ministry, as well as personal crises.)