I have yet to see Triet’s other work, and have been meaning to prioritize Victoria for a while now, but this will likely right that wrong. First off, like Unsane’s completely misinformed understanding of the mental health care inpatient system, I had to abandon my knowledge of realism regarding a therapist for this to work. Not only are our protagonist’s interventions off, but the ethical issues in termination alone (not to mention the other more obvious actions to chastise) aren’t fitting to one’s professional education and the universal ethical processes, regardless of personal moral failings. Adding in the addiction element is interesting because the way Triet handles the material details the cryptic behaviors through a wider complicated net rather than using this quality to assign meaning (its usual purpose often incorrectly utilized, and simplifying a character to a single dimension). This keeps most elements mysterious as we come to understand the character with limited information. This is a strong choice by Triet who could have made a hokey or even offensive film had he made the character less ambiguous while still fleshing her out as human. The drawing of character reminded me of Young Adult in creating a sense of intimacy that we can only half-access because of the position of limiting forced exploration revealing it to be a limited idea in its futility.
The scenes play out like choppy blackouts for a while to help the narrative emulation of this concept, and I found myself invested with interest while accepting that my information would be incomplete more easily than most films would support. Triet’s direction is matched by his effective writing skills all in attention to a unique structure, and the actors’ own ambiguity help us stay as nonjudgmental as possible in favor of curiosity, all pieces working to transform this into a social thriller as much in the jagged editing process as the dense characterizations.
After the first third this begins taking riskier turns that will or won’t work based on a variety of personal preferences to the narrative process. I loved it, and the only reason I’ll reference Unsane again (a film this has next to nothing in common with) is that both works are based around professionally and personally offensive content that somehow through an honest appreciation for other human emotions and authenticity around cognitive processes, they both succeeded in respecting the viewer and characters with empathy that undercut- even eliminate- the problems. Specifically,
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Sibyl, who may or may not have been a good therapist prior to terminating her clients in favor of her own self-interest, winds up unintentionally becoming both a sought party in that role by literally all characters regardless of their status as client or not, and a great therapist (finally issuing active listening and increased empathy after a series of apathetic, cold responses and closed-ended questions at the start) in the process of doing something characteristically selfish and (professionally and legally) unethical. Don’t get me wrong, Sibyl’s actions aren’t redeemed, her behavior isn’t purified, and her ego isn’t sacrificed (although we do have a better sense of her complexities after a late reveal), but there’s still an ironic bond, ambivalent in the face of actions that are morally grounded in defined ethics, which only furthers the irony with a smile that could be wicked but is actually empathetic itself towards its characters.
The film ends with an interaction of such beautifully complicated humanness that directly addresses Sibyl’s declaration of control in the penultimate montage, again with ambiguity both supporting her claim and poking a hole in it, but all this does is make the film humanist and humble, and worthy of soaking in with our own empathy and without judgment.
The film ends with an interaction of such beautifully complicated humanness that directly addresses Sibyl’s declaration of control in the penultimate montage, again with ambiguity both supporting her claim and poking a hole in it, but all this does is make the film humanist and humble, and worthy of soaking in with our own empathy and without judgment.