The Dreamlife of Angels

Erick Zonca's acclaimed debut feature, which won a shared Best Actress award at Cannes for its two stars, is a bit deceptive: it carefully lulls you into believing that you're seeing a dreamy little female buddy picture, then pulls the emotional rug out from under you. Dark, scruffy and trusting Isa (Elodie Bouchez) wanders into town looking for a long-gone acquaintance; instead, she bumps into pale, angular and standoffish Marie (Natascha Regnier), who, being French, is of course deeply insecure beneath her armor. Marie immediately invites Isa to live with her, and the pair quickly form a highly codependent relationship, which is subsequently threatened when Isa becomes obsessed with a young girl in a coma and Marie gets hooked on sadistic Chris (Gregoire Colin), an arrogant nightclub owner. Both of the women are amazing to behold, and each individual moment is quite strong, but the overall structure feels somewhat schematic--Isa the giving free-spirit vs. Marie the damaged nut-job--and in the end it's not much different from every other gloomy French character study you've ever seen. I watched the whole thing from a distance, curiously unmoved. Other people go nuts for it. Optional. (M. D'Angelo)