NOWHERE SPECIAL: Sad Window Cleaner Faces Down Death

The British will literally eat beans on toast for breakfast and then go to work making the saddest movies you’ve ever seen in your life. Nowhere Special might take the cake for the most devastating movie premise: It follows sad, single window cleaner John (James Norton) who, diagnosed with a terminal illness, tries to find a suitable foster parent for his 5-year-old son, Michael (Daniel Lamont). Just reading that makes you reach for the tissues. It’s as though writer-director Uberto Pasolini saw all the morose British kitchen sink dramas of the past 70 years and declared, “These are not depressing enough.”

I was optimistic going into Nowhere Special, especially because of the rapturous response it got from critics everywhere, especially the folks at IndieWire. Unfortunately, its baffling international rollout means that the film’s been nearly completely buried — an Italian-Romanian-U.K. coproduction, it was originally released in Italy in 2020 and the U.K. in 2021 and didn’t reach the U.S. for another three years, in 2024. Buried or not, the prospect of seeing Norton tackle such a complex role, and of seeing how the film follows through on that thirteen-hankie premise, was enough to get me excited. Unfortunately, Pasolini and company only somewhat stick the landing — they do wind up somewhere, but it doesn’t feel like it’s anywhere special.

Everything — And Everyone — Dies

True to its logline, the film is emotionally arduous and quietly devastating, mostly operating in a low-energy register as our window cleaner slowly succumbs to his illness and comes to terms with what he needs to do for his son. John is stymied by this choice — “This is the biggest decision of my life,” he tells his social worker (Eileen O’Higgins) — but recognises that sooner or later, he’ll have to tell Michael the truth, and he’ll have to pick a family to send him to when he’s gone. Nobody prepares you for that kind of decision. And the film does its best to show that as it’s currently set up, the Northern Irish foster care system isn’t really prepared for it, either.

But to indulge any sort of political message would be to read too much into Nowhere Special. You can tell the film aspires to be a social realist parable — all the familiar hallmarks of British kitchen sink dramas are there. The cast’s naturalistic performances, coupled with the pedestrian dialogue, flat lighting and framing from cinematographer Marius Panduru, and unadorned editing from Masahiro Hirakubo and Saska Simpson feel of a piece with that mode of storytelling. But the picture lacks a key element: the political motivation that powers those films at their cores.

Sub-Par Social Realist Filmmaking

Similar to films like Sean Baker’s excellent The Florida Project or the Italian neo-realist masterpiece Bicycle Thieves, Nowhere Special is just as much about the shattered innocence of the son as it is about the hopeless parent who’s been dealt a shitty hand by the world. The tragedy comes in seeing the parent come to terms with their disastrous life, accept the inevitable, and figure out how to move forward. Unlike The Florida Project and especially Bicycle Thieves, however, Nowhere Special never points the finger at anyone or anything. Everything sucks, their lives suck, and things will continue to suck long after John is dead.

If Pasolini has any sort of political message he’s attempting to articulate in Nowhere Special, it’s a vague gesture toward class solidarity. John meets many prospective foster parents for Michael, but some of them are too rich, others too busy, and others seem to just barely be scraping by as it is. In all of them, John is looking for something — a reason to say no. That makes sense, but on a deeper level, John seems to be generally uncomfortable with sending his son into a life of relative comfort and economic privilege. If there’s anything compelling in that idea, Pasolini doesn’t seem to be interested.

Thankfully, where the film fails to convey a deeper message or offer any complex themes, Nowhere Special largely succeeds as a character study, never once prying its gaze from John and Michael. This is their story. Like beetles in a terrarium, they wander in front of familiar scenery, trapped in a box they cannot even begin to comprehend, much less escape. Pasolini finds poetry in their pain, even if he lacks the tools to convey that poetry to the viewer.

Conclusion

Devastating though the premise might be, I feel like Pasolini never quite goes the distance. You can tell that Norton is ready to launch into tears or a violent outburst at any moment, but only once or twice does the film call on him to deliver. Many critics adored Lamont, too, but I didn’t think the actor had much to do here besides look cute and, occasionally, nervous. Most of his acting is done vicariously through other actors, and it’s a credit to the supporting cast that Lamont shines as the chubby-cheeked cherub at the heart of the story.

Though it’s intermittently engaging, the film keeps a curious distance between the viewer and the subject. It lacks any sort of moment where it reaches out and grabs you by the throat. Some viewers might vibe with its low-key somber detachment, but it didn’t work for me.

The whole film is like watching a great pianist hit the same dour, pensive note over and over and over again. After 90 minutes, it doesn’t matter how good a pianist they are — you want them to play a second note. But while Nowhere Special never really surprises you or attempts to convey a second emotion besides numbing sorrow, it’s undeniably effective at achieving that narrow goal. I just feel like someone like Kenneth Lonergan could’ve knocked this out of the park. It should be a revelatory experience, but instead it feels like a well-made but by-the-numbers kitchen sink drama.

Nowhere Special is currently available to stream on Kanopy and rent via Amazon.