“Sibyl” – Movie Review

 

During the middle weekend of the 57th New York Film Festival, I attended the U.S. Premiere of the new French comedy-drama “Sibyl”. 

Synopsis

When a psychotherapist quits her day job to dedicate herself to an actress in personal distress, what impact will this have on the life of both women?

Story

As a psychotherapist, Sibyl (Virginie Efira) has what appears to be a successful practice.  And yet she feels unfulfilled. Her real dream is to become a novelist. Despite having a family that depends on her profession as a source of income, Sibyl decides she must end her practice in order to write her novel.  Towards that end, she informs a number of clients that she will terminate their sessions. Understandably, a number of them are upset about this but she retains a small subset of patients whom she feels she can continue to work with while writing her book. 

As she’s winding down her practice, Sibyl gets an unexpected call from Margot (Adèle Exarchopoulos), a young actress currently going through severe personal distress.  Despite telling Margot she’s no longer accepting new patients, Sibyl reluctantly agrees to see her with the intention of referring her to another therapist.  But Sibyl gets hooked once she hears Margot’s tale:  during her current movie shoot, she’s been having an affair with Igor (Gaspard Ulliel), her costar, who is a major celebrity. To make matters even more complicated, the director of the movie happens to be Igor’s wife. 

At the behest of Margot – and with great trepidation – Sibyl agrees to accompany her to the exotic location where they continue to shoot the movie.  It is here that Sibyl begins to fully appreciate the shrewish behavior of the director that Margot had warned her about. But there is yet another challenge:  Sibyl is now being seduced by Igor. Despite the feelings of betrayal Sibyl inevitably has, she succumbs to the charms of Igor. By now, Igor is cheating on his wife (the director) and his girlfriend, Margot – who is also Sibyl’s patient.  With Sibyl having her own family back home, how will she deal with all of this?

Review

“Sibyl” can easily be filed under the category of Guilty Pleasure.  It is a fun movie, but unsubstantial. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  It’s a film you watch if you want to feel more than think; it’s very entertaining, but doesn’t demand too much from its audience.  If you’re looking for a delightful little sexy fantasy (which is intended as more of a compliment than an insult) that can be used as a brief bit of French escapism, you’d be hard pressed to find a better choice than this motion picture.  This is a film with plenty of charm but not a great deal of gravitas, despite its efforts to attempt that.

One of the things that makes “Sibyl” a good escapist film is that it takes the viewer from an almost drab, mundane lifestyle to one of a reverie:  the glamor of the motion picture business and the intrigue of the lives of famous movie stars. Yet it manages to keep you grounded in reality: Sibyl has her own family that she has to deal with, not to mention other clients – specifically a troubled young man who is trying to come to terms with his mother’s recent death.  This is perhaps the best illustration of how “Sibyl” – both the motion picture and the character – has a heart.     

Following the screening, there was an interview with director Justine Triet.  Triet said that she had previously worked with this same actress on the movie “In Bed With Victoria” and wanted a shot at another film with her when she understood how she worked.  She said that “Sibyl” is basically watching the destruction of a person through a kaleidoscope. It is also a portrait of two women looking at each other while at two different points of their trajectory; once they cross paths, they basically exchange roles and the actress is more in control while Sybil starts to lose herself.