Measures for a Funeral

Measures for a Funeral is a 2024 Canadian drama film directed by Sofia Bohdanowicz.^[1] An expansion of her 2018 short film Veslemøy's Song,^[2] the film stars Deragh Campbell as Audrey Benac, a graduate student researching the life and career of classical violinist Kathleen Parlow.^[3]

Measures for a Funeral
Film poster
Directed by	Sofia Bohdanowicz
Screenplay by	Sofia Bohdanowicz Deragh Campbell
Produced by	Andreas Mendtritzki Aonan Yang Sofia Bohdanowicz Priscilla Galvez
Starring	Deragh Campbell
Cinematography	Nikolay Michaylov
Edited by	Pablo Alvarez-Mesa Sofia Bohdanowicz
Music by	Olivier Alary
Production companies	Greenground Productions Maison du Bonheur Films
Distributed by	Vortex Media
Release date	September 7, 2024 (2024-09-07) (TIFF)
Running time	142 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

The cast also includes María Dueñas, Melanie Scheiner, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Maxim Gaudette, Eve Duranceau, Eileen Davies, Rosa Johan-Uddoh, Grace Glowicki, Kieran Adams, Anni Spadafora, Fan Wu, Heidi Galvez, Julia Beyer, Darrah Teitel and Aaron Danby in supporting roles.

In addition to Veslemøy's Song, Campbell previously played Audrey Benac in Bohdanowicz's films Never Eat Alone (2016), MS Slavic 7 (2019), Point and Line to Plane (2020) and A Woman Escapes (2022).^[4]

The film premiered in the Centrepiece program at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.^[5]

Release

Paris-based Totem Films acquired world sales rights, excluding Canada, to the film in advance of its world premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Centrepiece program.^[6]

Critical Response

For Collider, Taylor Gates wrote: "Measures for a Funeral is predictably strong in the music department, the score infusing the film with a moody, ominous tone from the get-go. Extensive repetitive notes heighten the sense of tension and bring out the horror vibe lurking under the surface of the drama that’s constantly threatening to break free. Visually, the film is stunning, too. The cinematography is crisp and consistent, defined by clean lines and symmetry that feels fitting for the formal and often stuffy setting it’s capturing. The color palette — somehow simultaneously cozy and disconcerting, vivid but dreary — enhances things as well. Some of the most intriguing shots give us insight into Audrey’s unwell state of mind, like when she mistakes a coffee spill for a pool of blood. On a craft level, Measures for a Funeral is remarkable. The entire film is a concert of sorts, and each shot is like looking at a breathtaking painting."^[7]

At Drink In The Movies, Michael Clawson wrote: "This is a highly cerebral film. Exchanges of dialogue have the feel of academic discourse, like when Audrey and a friend sip beer in a London pub and discuss how sound and material objects persist differently through time. There’s a separate impulse towards eerier, more ominous terrain, much of which is grounded in Audrey’s grief."^[8]