Sam works as a security guard in a shopping centre. The 22nd of May looks as if it’s going to be a day like any other: the forty-something drags himself to work; he shows someone the way and throws out a tramp. But when he stands outside smoking a cigarette, fate strikes. In the shopping centre, a boy with a rucksack blows himself up. And Sam didn’t notice. Or did he?
The Flemish Koen Mortier made a spectacular debut four years ago with Ex Drummer, based on work by Herman Brusselmans and included in the Tiger Award competition. 22nd of May, partly shot in Rotterdam, is both radical and idiosyncratic, yet totally different in many ways.
The camera stays close to Sam, as if Mortier wants to get inside his head, and the music by Michael Gallagher is moody and effective. Slowly but surely, Sam loses his grip on reality, overwhelmed by guilt feelings. And the viewer loses it along with him. 22nd of May is at once an impressive drama and a moving character study.