Staying Vertical

Oddball screenwriter Léo (Damien Bonnard), who initially seems like an amoral sponge soaking up random experiences with anyone he sees, roams rural France by car and on foot. He's not so much seeking material for a script that he's supposed to be writing (for which he's regularly receiving advance payments) as he is actively avoiding the work by engaging with strangers in non-nuanced seduction. One result is that he fathers a child with (no kidding) a farmer's daughter, whose postpartum depression is so intense that she abandons their baby, leaving Léo to play a daddy role for which he is extremely ill-equipped. Filmmaker Alain Guiraudie's Staying Vertical is an opaque if frequently comic road movie that ultimately comes across as somewhat unmoored, with Guiraudie adding more fantastic, dreamlike elements (and an explicit hardcore sex scene) as the film rolls on, leading to a haunting, unforgettable ending. A strong optional purchase for more adventurous collections. (T. Keogh)