The Middle Man

This slow-burning drama stars Pål Sverre Hagen as mild-mannered Frank, who is hired by the elders of a rundown Midwest town to accompany police when they have to break tragic news to relatives of accident victims. Frank's new job hits close to home after Steve (Rossif Sutherland), his best friend since childhood, falls into a coma following a bar fight, testing his ability to retain the emotional detachment his work requires. Director Bent Hamer's thought-provoking examination of loss and grief also serves as a low-key portrait of a community blighted by spiralling poverty. The sadness is leavened by occasional deadpan humour, and the touching subplot of a burgeoning romance between Frank and a fellow office worker (Tuva Novotny). Hagen plays the misfit would-be Grim Reaper with admirable subtlety, and there's strong support from Kenneth Welsh as Steve's father and Paul Gross as the town's no-nonsense sheriff.