Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed play confused lonely-hearts torn between science and emotion in this adorable near-future romance.
Heartache and horror walk hand in hand in “Fingernails,” a disarmingly sweet science-fiction romance from the Greek director Christos Nikou. Opening with a brief explanation of the title — the first sign of heart disease is often noticed in the fingernails — and closing on a note of indescribable yearning, this gently humorous movie operates so smoothly you may not notice its subversiveness.
Set in an indeterminate near future (the production design has a warm, slightly worn familiarity), the story follows an unemployed schoolteacher named Anna (Jessie Buckley, glowing beneath one of the most unflattering hairdos since Cameron Diaz’s scary perm in 1999’s “Being John Malkovich”). Though comfortably settled with her longtime boyfriend, Ryan (Jeremy Allen White), Anna feels strangely lost: Ryan is sweet but dull, their interaction as predictable as the job interviews she disinterestedly pursues.
“Have you tested?” a friend inquires one evening. Responding to a crisis of dwindling romantic partnerships, scientists have developed a test that can determine whether you and your significant other are truly in love. Years earlier, Anna and Ryan had passed the test with flying colors; so why was she feeling so restless, and so attracted to Amir (Riz Ahmed), her handsome new work colleague?
And it’s here, in the sly, dry wit of the movie’s middle section, that Nikou jabs cheekily at the wearying clichés of the rom-com, from its de rigueur tropes (wordless eye-gazing, rain-soaked encounters) to its too-easily-forecast finales. As Anna and Amir work with couples at the Love Institute, preparing them to take the test under the benign guidance of a true believer (perfectly played by Luke Wilson), the cinematographer, Marcell Rév, washes scenes in a comforting antique glaze that grounds their ludicrousness. Like eager children, loving couples perfect their romance skills — like memorizing their partner’s scent and, of course, inhaling Hugh Grant movies — before surrendering to the test. Few are thrilled to learn that this will require one of their fingernails, a pair of pliers and a clanking contraption that looks like a vintage oven.
Offsetting its outlandish premise with performances of touching credibility, “Fingernails” chooses restraint over passion and silent longing over emotional declaration. The result may feel too cool for some; but Buckley and Ahmed are so naturally expressive that their scenes together have a haunting, wistful quality that’s more moving than any number of florid speeches. And watching White, currently burning hot off “The Bear,” play an unadventurous dullard is its own twisted pleasure.
Like Nikou’s first feature, “Apples” (2022), “Fingernails” is absurd and more than a little dystopian. Both movies are carefully paced and mildly melancholic, their characters alienated from the common herd. This time, though, Nikou is more clearly linking belonging with pain, underscoring the foolishness of believing we can love without risk — and questioning why we would want to.
Unlike too many conventional rom-coms, “Fingernails” sees love as ineffable, its ebb and flow impervious to scientific measurement or behavioral tinkering. Maybe, in the words of the unimpeachable Iris DeMent, we should just let the mystery be.
Fingernails
Rated R for bloodied fingers and bruised feelings. Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes. Watch on Apple TV+.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
