Boris Without Beatrice

A self-consciously mysterious tragicomedy with shadowy allusions to Greek mythology and Dante, Canadian writer-director Denis Côté's Boris Without Beatrice serves up a thin allegory about pride and the painful journey to redemption. James Hyndman stars as industrialist Boris, a captain of modernity who is out of sorts with a world that turns personal information into publicly available data. Boris is also ambivalent about a more dire situation: the descent of his wife Beatrice (Simone-Élise Girard)—an important figure in the prime minister's cabinet—into catatonic depression. Taking a leave of absence from his company, Boris remains at home to oversee Beatrice's care, which instantly sparks a crisis since he can't paper over his selfishness and inflexibility with his usual work and extramarital affairs. Galvanized by a brief cathartic romance with Beatrice's caregiver, estrangement from his young activist daughter, and a touch of magic realism in the form of a spectral figure (the always bizarre Denis Lavant) who accuses him of making Beatrice sick, Boris slowly begins to accept responsibility. While the cast is wonderful, the more the story drifts into self-aware and half-baked allusions to myth, the less emotionally effective the film becomes. Still, this should be considered a strong optional purchase. (T. Keogh)