You Are Not Alone

Directed by Marie-Hélène Viens and Philippe Lupien, You Are Not Alone details the relationship that ensues between a heartbroken pizza-delivery guy (Pier-Luc Funk’s Léo) and a sweet-natured musician named Marianne Fortier’s Rita – with the potential coupling threatened by an unexpected, otherworldly force. It’s an oddball premise that’s employed, for the most part, to distressingly underwhelming effect by Viens and Lupien, and there’s little doubt, certainly, that the movie fares especially poorly within its seriously sluggish and patience-testing opening stretch – with the arms-length atmosphere perpetuated by Viens and Lupien’s unwillingness to provide much (or any) context in terms of the aforementioned otherworldly force. The picture is, then, at its most tolerable when it’s focused on the sweet, affable relationship between Funk and Fortier’s respective characters, with the impact of their scenes heightened by the actors’ palpable chemistry together and an ongoing reliance on not-so-subtle Punch-Drunk Love allusions and references. By the time the fairly endless closing stretch rolls around, however, You Are Not Alone has confirmed its place as an ambitious misfire that probably should’ve limited itself to just one genre.

** out of ****