His film 'Another Year' and broader oeuvre deeply explore human relationships, emotional labor, and the complexities of care that underpin surrogate emotional roles.

His films like 'Speaking Parts' and 'The Sweet Hereafter' investigate themes of substitution, representation, and how people become surrogates for others' desires and traumas.

His socially conscious films examine family structures, care systems, and economic dependency that create surrogate relationships and substitute family bonds.