Prickly, 40-something Dora (Dagmar Manzel) hates her job as a post-woman, avoids unnecessary contact with the neighbours and devotes most of her emotional energy to cleaning her flat and tending her cactus collection. This sterile existence is suddenly disrupted when her voluptuous Polish neighbour Jolanta (Grazyna Szapolowska), believing she has accidentally killed her sleazy boss, appeals to her for help. Dora reluctantly agrees, but the warm, beguiling Jolanta, an illegal immigrant with nowhere else to go, begins to get under her skin. Dora finds herself behaving increasingly out of character as she’s reluctantly drawn back into life.
This is a beautifully constructed, character-driven comedy of considerable emotional subtlety, with terrific performances from Manzel and Szapolowska and a great supporting cast. A complete charmer – not to be missed.