A Portuguese stock picker toiling in a vast Scottish warehouse, Aurora (lovely, empathetic work from Joana Santos), in the eyes of her employers, is not an individual. She is the sum of the data that her handheld scanner feeds back into the system. If the algorithm decrees it, she is rewarded for efficiency (a bar of chocolate from her callow, barely post-adolescent manager). If she falls behind, she’s scolded by someone oblivious of (and indifferent to) the fact that Aurora is struggling on several levels: the unexpected cost of repairing her phone has wiped out her food budget for the month; the work is soul-destroying and repetitive. But most of all, she’s isolated, disconnected and painfully lonely.

This terrific English-language feature debut from Portuguese-born, Scotland-based director Laura Carreira makes a satisfying companion piece to Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You. Both films tackle the human cost of the convenience we take for granted (On Falling also shares a production company, Sixteen Films, with Loach). But Carreira brings something else to the mix: there’s a tactile quality to her humanist vision.

It’s not just about the grinding mechanics of the job, but also Aurora’s yearning for intimacy with another human being. The most poignant scenes capture charged, fleeting moments of physical contact. Aurora tentatively rests her head on the shoulder of her new flatmate Kris (Piotr Sikora). There’s a flash of awkwardness, then both retreat into the reassuring anonymity of their phone screens. Later, a single shot shows Aurora’s hand resting on the arm of a stranger who helps her. It’s heartbreaking – a moment that encapsulates Aurora’s aching emptiness and hunger for connection.

• In UK and Irish cinemas