Rating: 3.5/5
More like Gabrielle is Afraid, am I right?
In 2044, Gabrielle is trying to get a better job than checking temperatures of [insert future tech here]. The interviewer finds her a tough sell because, unlike AI, which remains detached from their emotions like good Buddhists, Gabrielle experiences complex emotions.
In 1910, Gabrielle is a renowned pianist and happily married. She owns a doll factory that’s making the switch from porcelain to celluloid. If she’s so happy, why is she thinking about Louis from the gala? Hadn’t they met before?
In 2014, Gabrielle is house-sitting in LA, trying to get a modeling job. Or anything, really. She chats with an internet psychic who tells her about a man “who only has sex in his dreams.” Neighbors are saying they’re seeing someone creeping around the house. But Gabrielle sees nothing.
Gabrielle believes a catastrophic event will define her life, lying in wait for her like a beast. Like a Henry James novella, Gabrielle must learn that fear is the greatest catastrophe to define her life, for to live in it is to miss out on intimacy.
What does intimacy look like? You’ll have to watch the movie and tell me. Because I’m not sure.
This movie is a lot. It lives in that Post-Film “every moment of sincerity requires an irony that distances the audience.” At times, I’m fully on board with it. At others, I’m cringing in my seat.
Still, I’m happy to see a sci-fi movie made for adults in the theater. Also, Léa Seydoux is outstanding — the movie spends most of its time looking at her, and she nails every second.
It’s hard to come to a consensus for a movie that was so many things — it’s silly, it’s heartbreaking, it’s horrifying. That alone is enough for me to like it, even if I’m not on board with all of its messaging.