A Perfect Day (2015)

When you think of war films you usually think of combat or heroism. A Perfect Day is on the opposite end. It is a film about a single day in which a humanitarian aid team working in the conflict zone of the 1990s Balkan Peninsula searches for a single rope in order to pull a body out of a well. The choice to handle this tragic situation in the tone of a black comedy feels strange at first, but you end up convinced it is the most honest way. My rating is ★4.5.

What it’s about — One day searching for a single rope

Humanitarian aid workers Mambru (Benicio del Toro) and B (Tim Robbins) learn that a body has fallen into a well and is contaminating the water supply. They need to pull the body out, but they have no rope. During a single day spent searching for a rope, they collide with local residents divided by war, UN bureaucracy, rookie worker Sophie (Mélanie Thierry), and Mambru’s former lover and UN employee Katya (Olga Kurylenko).

Direction — Wrapping war in black comedy

Director Fernando León de Aranoa based the film on Paula Farias’s novel of the same name, grounding it in the reality drawn from actual experience in conflict zones. The most impressive thing is the way he conveys the weight of war’s horror without showing it directly. Destroyed villages, armed soldiers at checkpoints, hostile atmospheres, and the eyes of children all seep in as background.

The black comedy tone operates like a defense mechanism. The irrationality of the system, bureaucratic barriers, and the absurdity of the situation are all handled with laughter, but that laughter isn’t comfortable. You laugh while something nags at the back of your mind. This is the central emotion of the film.

Performance — The chemistry of del Toro and Robbins

Benicio del Toro makes Mambru someone tired and cynical who is still looking for meaning. Without exaggeration, he simultaneously shows the resignation and the will of a person who has been at these kinds of sites for decades. Tim Robbins’s B is on the opposite end — a character who receives situations optimistically, sometimes unnecessarily cheerfully, and the film gradually shows what lies behind that cheerfulness.

The chemistry between the two actors is the main force that carries this film. Even in scenes where they look at each other without speaking, you feel that these are people who have spent a long time together at these sites.

What the film says — The reasons to keep going regardless

What A Perfect Day says is about the limits of humanitarian work — and the reasons for it nonetheless. Must finding a single rope really be this complicated and draining? One side gives the rope and the other side takes it away; the system prioritizes procedure over the field. The film packages the absurdity of this structure in humor, but what’s underneath the wrapping is quite dark.

And yet the characters come out the next day again. There are small successes, small failures, days that feel meaningful and days that feel meaningless. Continuing despite this repetition — that is the reality of humanitarian work as this film sees it.

Ratings & reception

A Perfect Day received a positive response when it first screened at Cannes. TMDB score is 6.7, and IMDb records 6.8. Rotten Tomatoes freshness is 70%. It isn’t a widely known film, but among films in this area it is praised for its distinctive and balanced perspective. It is also a work that has been recognized for its sense of realism by aid workers who have direct field experience.

What doesn’t work

The subplot of Katya and Mambru’s past relationship takes up fairly significant space in the middle of the film, and this section feels slightly off from the film’s overall flow. The emotional resolution between the two characters isn’t handled convincingly enough, and the romance subplot feels somewhat forced. The ending is also handled in an open way — for some viewers this will remain as resonance, but those wanting a clear conclusion may feel unsatisfied.

Verdict

A Perfect Day deals with war and humanitarian work while honestly capturing the complexity of the field without heroes or villains. It is a film that is funny yet bitter, light in its beginning and heavy in what it leaves behind. The chemistry that Benicio del Toro and Tim Robbins create together is the reason it’s enjoyable all the way through. It isn’t a widely known film, but once you discover it, it’s one you won’t regret. Rating: ★4.5.

Recommended for

• Those looking for war films without combat — dramas about the edges of conflict
• Fans of Benicio del Toro or Tim Robbins
• Those who enjoy films that combine black comedy and human drama
• Those with an interest in humanitarian work