Félix & Meira

Occasionally hitting a few Bressonian-like notes of contemplative, spiritual angst, Canadian filmmaker Maxime Giroux's Félix & Meira follows a cross-cultural love triangle in Montreal. Meira (Hadas Yaron), a young wife and mother in a strict ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community, is openly disenchanted with her stifling routine, domineering husband Shulem (Luzer Twersky), and forced domesticity. She crosses paths with gentile Félix (Martin Dubreuil), a good-natured, indolent bachelor from an affluent family, and the two are drawn into an affair after the death of Félix's father leaves him in an emotionally needy state. But later in the story, more illumination is shed on Shulem, finding nobility and complexity in a character initially set up as a simplistic villain. An award-winner at numerous international film festivals, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)