Tomorrow I Leave review – poignant portrait of a care worker sacrificing her home life for her work

<p>The paradoxical emotional push and pull of those forced to migrate for work is vividly captured in Maria Lisa Pichler and Lukas Schöffel’s intimate portrait </p><p>Every four weeks, Maria leaves her small Romanian town and heads to Austria, where she is employed as a care worker for elderly people. Her life is split between borders and constant goodbyes, a transient emotional state vividly captured in Maria Lisa Pichler and Lukas Schöffel’s intimate portrait. In the opening scene, Maria drives along her local roads, pointing out the houses left empty by those who have moved abroad for work opportunities. Under the precarious forces of economy, it seems as if a whole community is gradually evaporating.</p><p>Structured around Maria’s monthly drives, the film juxtaposes her home life with her professional duties. Simple scenes of family gatherings bristle with tension. Maria’s son Ionuț laments her absence, which he deems to be a sign of emotional neglect. But as the primary breadwinner Maria takes on the gruelling job to provide a better future for her children. In another poignant parallel, we see her ageing parents whose ramshackle farmhouse contrasts sharply with the middle-class apartments of her Austrian clients. There’s a bitter irony in how Maria makes a living by caring for other people’s relatives, while unable to fully tend to her own.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/13/tomorrow-i-leave-review-poignant-portrait-of-a-care-worker-sacrificing-her-home-life-for-her-work">Continue reading...</a>