So we met... Long before receiving the Palm Branch at Cannes in 2023, Justine Trier explored the social environment through documentary and short films. The most notable of them was “Naughty girl, bad boy”, renamed by festivalgoers to “Two Solitudes” and took one of the prizes at the Berlinale.
The plot is not full of originality, even to some extent seems banal for French cinema: a guy and a girl meet at a party, which will either lead to further metamorphosis in the relationship, or remain a short-term illusion. The romantic background, in contrast to Hollywood standards, is translated from fabulous convention into the pathetics of everyday realism, illustrated in life situations: here the ATM shows the poor artist the lack of funds on the card, but a certain madam returns home and scolds a relative with developmental features for the mess. In between, the lion’s share of the first third of the timekeeping is taken by an event with dances, jokes, absurdities, conflicts over drunken harassment and painfully familiar acts of unwanted and inevitable communication with someone crouched on their ears. The director does not bring anything new to the court, but he treats the material of everyday life well, creating a certain mood of the film.
If at first the triviality of what is happening does not cause participation, then it manifests itself not only through identification and recognition, but also due to the actors, ease of syllable, changeability in the image. Letizia and Thomas find common ground based on the circumstances: short antipathy grows into a series of rapprochements, but not when the date goes for a date, and the viewer yawns with boredom. They are given a whole night full of different options for interaction - from comical and unserious to dramatic and not the most pleasant. Constant change of vector and state allows you to tirelessly monitor the movements of the couple, along the way slightly better revealing the characters: in one territory fits and playful hanging in chat roulette with strangers, and a metaphorical excursion into the drawings of Thomas, and the dilemma associated with inadequate attacks of brother Letizia, and other fragments of life. What tried to turn into a melodrama turns out to be a true slice of reality with inherent joys and sorrows, when two people have to decide whether they want to meet again or not. Are both single enough to need each other?
But as long as the night goes on, it doesn't matter at all.
7 out of 10