The Cinematheque

“[A] knotty, sensual comedy-thriller … Sibyl assembles a power trio of actresses whose performances simmer and pop off the screen.”

Beatrice Loayza, The A.V. Club

Whether a reporter, lawyer, or, as in the case of Sibyl (Virginie Efira), a psychotherapist, narrative complexity is an occupational hazard in Justine Triet’s films, each new version of a story exerting a dangerous—and possibly alluring—pull as protagonists choose which tales to trust. Sibyl’s talk therapy acumen meets its match in Margot (Adèle Exarchopoulos), a young actor who seems to invent new problems—which entangle Sibyl—on the spot. Charged with the suspense of ecstatic longing—affairs, unread texts, and erotic choreography all loom large—Triet’s film confidently pushes our awareness of tone, time, and space to the limit. At any given point in the film’s opening hour-long rush, it’s nearly impossible to say how many layers deep we are in memory, fantasy, or the subjective present. Key to the film’s playful use of genre knowledge—nearly parodic but seriously developed—is a brief but unforgettable appearance by Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall).

In French with English subtitles

“Radiant precision … Triet [makes] space for inconsistencies and the eternal snags of self-contradiction … Her film locates vitality in unresolved and fluctuating states [rather] than binaries of feminine behaviour.”

Alice Blackhurst, Another Gaze