In an Orderly Fashion
Documentary, Drama, Short Films, 03-Jun-2024
In the suburbs of Miami, a Cuban family’s lives are upended when a father is dealt news of a terminal illness on the first day of his retirement. Adrian Cardenas Rubio directs “In an Orderly Fashion,” a layered hybrid film that combines real-life home videos with fictional elements. As the narrator, Rubio tells us how it is. His mom and dad are Cuban immigrants that moved to Florida and raised him. Having led a life of hard work and sacrifice, forty years on the job, Adrian’s dad, Juan, is rewarded with an unexpected illness. Dismissing that this will be the way he goes out, Juan asks his wife to shoot him dead when least expects it. Thus begins a period of intense deliberation. Days go on, and it’s unclear how it’ll all end; more specifically, who or what will end it. Rubio paints the picture in complex ways — it’s a lovely piece of docu-fictional filmmaking and a heartfelt consideration of death as we feel it creeping closer, and our surrounding loved ones. -JM. Writer and Director: Adrian Cardenas. DP: Adrian Cardenas & Lorena Duran. Editor: Ana A. Alpizar. Sound Designer: Denis Colina. Colorist: Alec Davis.