The Cleaner

2021 • Directed by

Philip Cox

Documentary

One ordinary citizen keeps his family out of poverty by cleaning up bloody crime scenes across Mexico City. This innovative feature, mixing documentary, surreal animations and a Mariachi chorus centres around Donovan Tavera and his struggle to continue his bloody work whilst keeping not only his wife and daughter together but also his mind. The film brings many of the haunting dead clients of Donovan back to cinematic life and thus denounces the terrible violence raging in Mexico. It thereby reveals the extraordinary balancing act between life and death needed to survive in modern Mexico.