When Cotard Comes

The writer-director Shayan Naghibi utilises the mystery genre to explore and educate the audience regarding Cotard’s syndrome and how it affects the person suffering and their loved ones. Mona Afkhami and Paria Latifi play significant roles in When Cotard Comes to increase the degree of viewer’s interest and attention from the very beginning of the narrative.

The plot of the short film revolves around a woman who suffers from Cotard’s delusion and thinks she is dead until a mysterious woman walks into her house.

The short film starts with a close-up shot of a woman sleeping on the floor getting up only when she hears the doorbell ring i person’s identity at the door isn’t revealed initially to utilise the mystery element to keep the audience hooked to the content. The set design, the black, white, and blue tint colour pallet, dim lighting, camera angles, sound, dialogues, costume, hair, makeup, and props are designed brilliantly to elevate the subject matter the movie wants to shed light upon. Shayan Naghibi and his creative team had a very well-written one-to-one conversation in the narrative therefore adding emotional depth/sensitivity, realism, and relatability to the storyline as well as the character arcs of the two female leads.

In terms of performance, Mona Afkhami plays the mysterious woman who comes to visit the person leading pretty mundane life suffering from Cotard’s syndrome struggling to survive every day. Afkhami with her portrayal maintains his ladylike poise while she tries to comfort this woman. Afkhami understands the nuances of the subplot and so alters her voice modulation, body language, facial expressions, and eyes according to the situation in the screenplay.

Paria Latifi plays the role of a patient going through a tough time dealing with Cotard’s syndrome. Paria Latifi brilliantly illustrates the void, the constant internal battle to follow the day-to-day routine. The actress with her acting skills manages to build a heart-to- heart relationship with the viewers helping them learn a lot from the movie. Latifi’s body language, facial expressions, and voice modulations assist her in communicating her mental status thus making the portrayal real.

When Cotard Comes talks about the hardships when dealing with mental health issues. The pain one goes through when he or she isn’t able to understand what’s happening with them feeling alienated most of the time. The short film reiterates the fact that the family and friends of those people battling this condition should handle the situation with utmost care, love and always find time to listen to them whenever they want their loved ones to lend an ear to their worries. The cinematic piece highlights the challenges the care givers/ family/ friends tend to experience. The creative piece explores the sense of helplessness in the minds of everyone who loves the patient and wants to see them happy and fully satisfied with life.

To Conclude, I would like to thank the makers for handling the subject matter with a lot of sensitivity and providing us an opportunity to learn from the film in different ways.