She Is Love Parent Guide

Edgy after her flight across the Atlantic, Patricia (Haley Bennet) slowly makes her way to the Cornwall B&B her boyfriend booked for her. She’s horrified to discover that the charming home is also the full-time residence of her ex-husband, Idris (Sam Riley), and his actress girlfriend.

Most romance movies have a meet-cute or a meet-awkward but this one manages to spread awkwardness well beyond the first encounter. The discomfort between Patricia and Idris waxes and wanes, sometimes easing into friendliness, sometimes flaring into shouting matches. At no point, however, do the characters or their relationship manage to stir up anything approaching interest in the audience.

I think director Jamie Adams is trying to make a character study and She Is Love certainly puts character development above plot (of which there isn’t much). Haley Bennett and Sam Riley also do an outstanding job of bringing their characters to life. Vulnerability, rage, hope, despair, resentment – all of their feelings leap off the screen. The tedium of the film can’t be laid at the actors’ feet but rests solely with the irksome script.

Fans of slow-moving character films who are interested in She Is Love will need to have a high tolerance for negative content. The movie is almost drenched in booze – there are fewer scenes without alcohol than there are with it. Patricia and Idris seem to be constantly drinking wine or hard liquor, despite the fact that Idris has managed to achieve sobriety after what is implied to be a past history of problem drinking. The script is also liberally soaked in profanity, with over 40 sexual expletives.

At the beginning of the film, Patricia relates a dream she has of draining pasta: “I can’t bring myself to let go of it. I think it means I’m afraid of letting go of something I don’t need anymore.” As far as I’m concerned, I won’t have trouble letting go of this film – it will be a pleasure.