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WHO YOU THINK I AM
Director: Safy Nebbou Cast: Juliette Binoche, François Civil, Nicole Garcia, Guillaume Gouix, Charles Berling, Jules Houplain, Jules Gauzelin, Marie-Ange Casta MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:41 Release Date: 9/3/21 (limited) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | September 2, 2021 There are secrets revealed and a few surprises as Who You Think I Am proceeds through its third act, but they almost don't matter to the core of this story. These revelations explain plenty—about our protagonist's motives and a truth that offers another angle to the game of falsity and fakery being played here. They don't change that co-writer/director Safy Nebbou's film is a melancholy, desperate character study about aging, feeling abandoned, and finding freedom, as well as a lot of pain, in pretending to be someone else. The story, adapted from Camille Laurens' novel by Nebbou and Julie Peyr, revolves around Claire (Juliette Binoche), a 50-year-old divorcée, mother to two sons, and professor of literature. She is cruelly dumped by a younger boyfriend (played by Guillaume Gouix), and in order to get further information on the guy, Claire comes up with a scheme. She'll create a fake social media account, posing as the 24-old-year "Clara," and catch the attention of the guy's roommate Alex (François Civil). Claire's narrative is just that: the story as it unfolded, related to her therapist (played by Nicole Garcia). Obviously, something happened as a result of Claire's charade, but that mystery is far less enticing than the mysteries of Claire. She becomes caught up in the persona of "Clara," whom she imagines is no different than herself. After all, the text and phone conversations between her and Alex are just her, writing and speaking from her mind and heart. As those talks continue, Claire finds herself falling for Alex, but this relationship is different. It's one of a genuine emotional connection. Can something founded upon a lie be real? That's a central question here, but Nebbou observes it, not as an inquiry about morality or reality, but as an examination of Claire, played with naïve hopefulness and an underlying sense of wounded desperation by Binoche (Two scenes, in which Claire stares at an unaware Alex, embody that dichotomy). A lie can bring pain, as it inevitably does to these characters (The number of lies piles up), but it can bring comfort, as it does in a speculative story about how things could have been. While the twists and turns of Who You Think I Am feel like a bit much near the conclusion, the film at least ends with the only truth that matters to this story: what Claire wants. Copyright © 2021 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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