Sunshine Cleaning

A deeply moving movie, Sunshine Cleaning follows two sisters who start their own crime scene clean up business to make more money. Unlike many movies I have seen recently, this movie had a very deep plot with many underlying themes and meanings.

On the surface, the movie deals with two women trying to get over past experiences and deal with each others differences. They go from call to call cleaning up houses after a person has died and get rid of everything that is left in the house. But more than that, the movie deals with many different thoughts and ideas about death and the way humans deal with others around them passing on. As humans, we all have fears about death and the afterlife. In the movie, a young boy asks the main question people wonder about, "What happens after we die?" And while this isn't answered, Sunshine Cleaning shows how different people deal with death.

The two young women who clean the crime scenes try to remain unconnected with the people who were involved, but sometimes this is impossible. In one scene in the movie, the women are called to clean up a suicide. Upon arriving to the house a little old woman is waiting outside to give them the keys and the women find out it was the lady's husband who committed suicide. One of the young woman sits with this woman and becomes emotional. But by sitting with the older woman, the young woman helps her through this difficult time. The emotion in this scene is so strong and upsetting, but shows how the smallest gesture can make someone feel better.Sunshine Cleaning shows that many people are affected by death, even those who do not know the person who has died.

One of the best movies I have seen in a very long time, Sunshine Cleaning is a dark comedy that is heavy on the dark and light on the comedy. However, it is such a fascinating movie it doesn't need much comedy to keep the viewer interested.

-H