QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM TALLINN

Marie (Élodie Bouchez) has been happily married to Julien (Omar Sy) for 15 years. They have two beautiful daughters, a nice home and financial stability. But Marie misses that spark from the early years. However doting, Julien is not very passionate. She becomes particularly insecure after Julien’s charming old lover Anaëlle (Vanessa Paradis) returns. She is convinced that they are having an affair. Her presumptions are unfounded: in fact, Julien resists Anaëlle’s advances. She decides to fight fire with fire, and thus begins an extra-marital relationship with her handsome boss Thomas (Jose Garcia). Unbeknownst to her, a highly manipulative, obsessive and potentially dangerous man hides under Thomas’s gentle smile.

Sixty-one-year-old actress-turned-writer-and-director Anne Le Ny crafts a movie about love with an instantly recognisable French sensibility. The characters manage adultery with a casualness unconceivable pretty much anywhere else on earth. The tribulations of love are discussed with frankness, and in a mostly civilised manner. The conversations are dotted with trivial pearls of knowledge (“love sweeps everything on its path”). And the interactions feel very honest. Urgent in its simplicity, Out of Control is in reality a very measured movie. It feels palpably real and relatable. The romantic cliches are familiar to anyone who’s ever been in and out of love. Le Ny avoids unwarranted tension: she uses a chirpy music score in order to soothe audiences during the most intense developments, carefully shunning suspense and melodrama tropes.

All four leads are very strong. Bouchez rivets with her broad and yet brittle smile. Sy convinces with his rational and balanced type with masculinity, with an honest and firm gaze. Garcia excels at precisely the opposite role: the duplicitous male, with a near-psychotic demeanour. And Paradis remains irresistible with her straightforward and unvarnished smile (the singer and actress is unapologetic about the unusual gap in her teeth), in a character bursting with humanity.

Male pride goes through a crash test. The two competing men repeatedly question whether romantic ambitions justifies toxic behaviour, with the final denouement providing a resolute answer: “no, it’s not ok to play dirty tricks for the sake of unrequited love”. While this 110-minute film does not directly address the topic of racism, the fact that Julien is black is not entirely insignificant. It is the white pursuer who is out of control. Black men are not allowed to behave in such way, we are subtly reminded. Marie’s sister gives her a handmade bowl, but she refuses the present due to a perceived fault. Marie then learns that the imperfection is intentional. The writing is on the wall: human beings and relationships are incredibly beautiful just the way they are. It is our flaws that make us rich and different.

Small takeaways such as these dot a movie a lot more profound than its synopsis might suggest. Despite offering little innovation, Out of Control remains a solid and memorable piece of filmmaking. Despite its title, Le Ny’s seventh feature film is a very balanced affair.

Out of Control just premiered in the Official Competition of the 28th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.