Not often does a movie come along that is so difficult to summarise in a handful of words. In my case, even stumbling upon this movie is a whole story unto itself. I was not familiar with this film, but a glance at a friend's Letterboxd review followed by a cursory Google search revealed how big this movie had already become in the international film market. So, I went ahead and gave it a watch – only to find myself devastated by what had been presented before me.

The genius of this film lies in how it unravels – it sets off with the viewer having certain expectations (which are certainly met) and grows with every new scene to showcase something vulnerable and profound yet not altogether beautiful. The basic premise follows M, a university dropout, as he tries to spend more time with his dying grandmother in hopes of winning over some of her inheritance upon her passing. However, something that is soon revealed is that the entire family, in their own ways, is exerting their greed upon this dying old lady. It's a fairly ugly premise to start with but had that been the only layer to this movie, it wouldn't have been half as devastating as it is.

Over its two-hour runtime, the film allows itself to breathe and grow and become endlessly complex in how it presents its characters, their motivations, and their dynamics with one another. Familial love, after all, can be an impossibly convoluted concept. There is greed aplenty but there is also love, and the intermingling of these two creates guilt in some of our characters, while others learn to grow beyond it.

Amidst it all, the character whose emotions take centre stage is, of course, M's dying grandmother. Played most wonderfully by Usa Semkhum, her character is at once wise, selfish, and irritable in ways only someone of her age faced with her own mortality can be. The film is as much an exploration of the love she carries so tenderly for her children as it is of the grief she has had to carry throughout her whole life. The emotions on display throughout the movie are by no means subtle – there was never any attempt to make it that way – but are written and directed so carefully to instill the feeling of life in every scene. Every conversation, every character expression, all of it comes together to make the film feel lived in. As if I really were peering into someone else's life. The filmmaking is reminiscent of works by Kore-eda, and the cool color grading and soft melancholic score only work to emphasise this feeling.

The other half of the emotional burden in this film is carried largely by our protagonist, M. His growth in the film is not entirely out of the realm of expectations set by the premise as his narrative arc involves his growth from selfish caretaker to loving grandson. But to add to that, it is only through his relationship with his grandmother that he is able to grow out of the narrow world he had created for himself. He is not entirely selfish, he never was – the events in the movie merely work to remind him of the love he carries within himself. Despite any shortcomings, his love too is a very palpable thing.

In many ways, this film serves as a reminder of the troubled and often mysterious ways families and generational inheritance work. More than that, it is a depiction of a form of love that is seeped in devotion despite everything. It is a form of love that ceases to exist when you start counting down the minutes until you have to leave. The film explores this, celebrates it, and perhaps even tells us of the grief this kind of love carries.