CinemaSerf

Jul 19, 2024

7.0

Told in part by way of some counselling sessions with "Dr. Bormans" (Nicole Garcia) we meet divorcee "Claire" (Juliette Binoche). A university lecturer with two teenage sons, she has an affair with "Ludo" (Guillaume Gouix) but a strange call makes her suspect he's not so trustworthy. A little online searching introduces her to his flatmate "Alex" (François Civil) who initially she wants to use to get to her beau, but gradually - and impersonating a woman half her age - she befriends him, they chat on the phone and a relationship stats to develop. Thing is, with her whole persona based on lies there is nowhere she can go when he asks for her number, when he wants to meet and ... well what happens next? On the negative front, this relies a little too much on the technique of using a mobile phone to convey the initial conversations. It's not so easy to read on a big screen. Once we have moved on to more direct dialogue though, Binoche turns in an engaging performance as a woman who longs and yearns but hasn't the confidence to be herself. At times her character is almost cruel as the young "Alex" clearly falls hook, line and sinker for her fiction. Can it ever be more than that? Although not quite what I was expecting, I didn't like the last twenty minutes or so, so much - it sort of cops out a little seeking an almost cowardly and messy refuge for both her and us, but Camille Laurens novel about loneliness, ageing, stereotyping and yes - cat fishing - makes for an stylish and quite characterful watch.