A relationship compatibility test becomes a form of torture, both mental and physical, in Greek writer-director Christos Nikou’s darkly funny rom-com Fingernails. Building on the acclaim for his debut feature Apples (2020), Nikou has assembled an impressive team of talents with his first English-language project, including a stellar cast headed by Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed, plus Cate Blanchett on board as co-producer. The director was previously an assistant to Greek “Weird Wave” figurehead Yorgis Lanthimos, and this tragicomic dissection of modern love feels at times like a sweeter, gentler cousin of The Lobster (2015).
With suburban Toronto standing in for the story’s purposely vague place and time, Fingernails has an autumnal, slightly grungy indie-movie look to match its bittersweet Charlie Kaufman-lite concept. The script is fresh and funny, although it relies on a hefty shot of suspended disbelief from viewers, especially a logic-bending plot that would collapse under real-world scrutiny. It also loses its nerve in its overlong, sentimental third act. All the same, there is much to recommend here: an inspired premise, plenty of solid laughs and a dash of fortune-cookie philosophy. Following its Telluride world premiere, Nikou’s lightly ironic deconstruction of modern romance makes its European debut this week in competition in San Sebastian. Theatrical release is planned for November, with an Apple streaming slot to follow.
Adopting an effortlessly smooth American accent, Buckley is magnetic and alert as Anna, a thirtysomething teacher several years deep into cosy domestic coupledom with reliably dull Ryan (Jeremy Allen White of Disney’s much-feted The Bear). These long-term lovers know they are well-suited because they earned a certificate of 100 per cent compatibility from the Love Institute, a kind of relationship warranty earned through a painstaking program of psychological and physical tests. The aim of this comically absurd pseudo-science is, it seems, is to help reassure couples they have chosen the right partner, thus avoiding wasted time and painful breakups. The punchline here is that only a small minority ever pass the test, so this high-risk relationship reboot is mostly adding to the sum of human misery.
Whatever the spurious junk science may claim, Anna and Ryan are clearly not living in conjugal bliss. While he is an increasingly complacent creature of routine, she yearns for adventure and excitement. She finds it by applying for a job at the Love Institute, where she is warmly welcomed by her eccentric new boss Duncan (Luke Wilson in enjoyably world-weary mode). Inevitably, there is also a spark of flirtatious chemistry with her handsome new co-worker Amir (a typically intense Ahmed) which makes Anna question her life and love choices.
Patiently building on the absurd implications of their premise, Nikou and his cast milk great comic mileage from the more extreme love tests: partners giving themselves minor electric shocks when separated so they associate separation with physical pain, skydiving together as a terrifying means of cementing mutual trust, or attending a season of Hugh Grant rom-coms “because no-one understands love more.” In a grimly funny twist, the key relationship test involves the gruesome enforced removal of fingernails for analysis in a bizarre, unreliable steampunk computer device. These torture-adjacent scenes which will have squeamish viewers averting their eyes.
Nikou works best in this knowingly ironic register, peppering cheery rom-com signifiers with disruptive detours into wincing body horror and lo-fi sci-fi, including some lightly meta swipes at the simplistic shallowness of romantic movie conventions. But these bittersweet comic pleasures unravel a little in the overlong second half, when Fingernails dials down the absurdism to concentrate on a more earnest, plodding account of the growing attraction between Anna and Amir. Crucially, the implied erotic sizzle between the two main protagonists feel pretty lukewarm. While Buckley’s animated face can convey deep emotional yearning, Ahmed’s buttoned-down, sharp-angled performance never reads as romantic intoxication. Maybe Nikou should have cast Hugh Grant instead? After all, no-one understands love more.
Fingernails begins as a sardonic, sophisticated critique of romantic cliches but ultimately risks succumbing to those very same banal preconceptions. Even so, the essential satirical theme hits the target, the cast are generally excellent, and the overall aesthetic package is high-calibre, especially Marcell Rév agile hand-held camerawork. Christopher Stracey’s wistful piano score plays too much into the film’s sentimental subtext, but thankfully a soundtrack selection of vintage pop hits provides more wit and colour, notably multiple version of Yazoo’s 1982 hit “Only You”, including one performed by Buckley herself.
Director: Christos Nikou
Screenwriters: Christos Nikou, Sam Steiner, Stavros Raptis
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White, Luke Wilson, Annie Murphy, Christian Meer, Amanda Arcuri
Producers: Coco Francini, Andrew Upton, Cate Blanchett, Christos Nikou, Lucas Wiesendanger
Cinematography: Marcell Rév
Editing: Yorgos Zafeiris
Music: Christopher Stracey
Production designer: Zazu Myers
Production companies: FilmNation Entertainment (US), Dirty Films (Australia)
Venue: San Sebastian International Film Festival (Official Selection)
In English
103 minutes
