A Monday morning, a man rings at Mary’s door. Just before he disappeared, he delivered her a strange parcel : a magnificent fruit tray adorned with a ribbon inscribed with a date. What is this date? Why is an hourglass hidden between pomegranates and bunches of grapes ? Dreading a sign announcing her death, Mary wonders if she is not living her last week. We dive into her mind for these 7 capital days, looking for inner peace and this mysterious deliverer of forbidden fruits.

Memento mori is a Latin phrase that means “Remember you must die”. It gave its name to a painting genre, also known as “Vanities”, which represents the ephemeral aspect of life with different symbols : skull, juicy fruits, cut flowers, soap bubble, hourglass, lit candles, but also world maps, musical instruments… These assortments make the viewer reflect upon his own condition of mortal. For example, fruits are represented both appetizing and overripe – even rotting – in order to suggest the fleeting nature of earthly pleasure. With my short film, my aim is to use this aesthetic to get free from a stressful representation of death. I'd like to juxtapose sensuality and macabre to celebrate life and death at the same time. This discrepancy can also generate a certain form of quirky humor : death is not taboo anymore, it blends into the daily life of a young girl and creates odd situations. Thus she’ll go through a new sort of rite de passage to adulthood. My reflection was inspired by the essay entitled "Que philosopher c'est apprendre à mourir" ("To philosophize is to learn how to die") written by Montaigne, which encourages to get used to the idea of death every day until it becomes a friend. I found an immense comfort in this text, which I wanted to share in my film.