Living Together

Directed by Halima Elkhatabi, Living Together features a series of interviews between potential roommates in Montreal – with the emphasis placed on quirky, oddball individuals and their ongoing efforts at finding someone compatible to live with. Filmmaker Elkhatabi essentially drops the viewer right into the aforementioned conversations with little in the way of introductory remarks or statements, and it’s clear, at the outset, that the unusual approach does result in a decidedly palpable arms-length feel that persists for a good chunk of the picture’s first half (ie the movie initially feels as though it’d be more at home within the festival’s Wavelengths program). There’s little doubt, however, that Living Together grows more and more absorbing as it unfolds, as Elkhatabi ultimately does an effective job of transforming her disparate subjects into unexpectedly compelling figures – with the increased emphasis on the potential roommates’ personal problems and preferences certainly heightening the engaging atmosphere. (It’s difficult, for example, not to get caught up in the back-and-forth between a man who enjoys single-player board games and a bright, talkative extrovert.) By the time the satisfying final stretch rolls around, Living Together has confirmed its place as a slight yet rewarding documentary that admittedly does linger far more than one might’ve anticipated.

*** out of ****