Where are we going? Where do we come from? The journey as a means of self-discovery is at the core of Ludwig Wüst’s films. Departure is the second film in the tetralogy Leaving Home, Coming Home, in which the Austrian addresses, through different stories and characters, issues of identity, home and displacement, both physical and emotional. In this kind of road movie, the paths of a man (played by the director himself) and a woman intertwine in this beautiful portrait of the passage through grief and pain. Characters who, although initially strangers, meet and find each other in – and through – each other over a single day. The beauty of the transitory is captured in long shots and panning shots in which Wüst uses his characteristic minimalist style, telling a story that, stripped of embellishments, is anchored in the purest naturalism. It is there that the film, like its characters, finds its truth: in the observation of the induvial, his inner psychology and his external relationships. Like floating ropes, this man and this woman cling to each other to stay on the surface, to try to understand themselves and to face an uncertain future. Unable to leave the pain behind they carry with them. Without ever being certain of their path: neither the one they have walked or the one they must follow. DANIELA URZOLA