Sublime performances by the two leads and a beautifully wistful ending rich in romantic implication distinguish this romantic drama about a 24-hour liaison in Paris, which plays as a Before Sunrise for grown-ups, minus the ontological discussions.
Director Bonnell, who wrote the screenplay, shows much more than he tells and implies much more than he shows as he brings together an English academic (Byrne), in Paris for a funeral, and a Parisian actress (Devos), whose evening appointment on stage in Calais is the drama's ticking clock.
The pair exchange glances, and nothing more, on a train, but she hears him asking for directions and, on an impulse obscure to both her and us, she follows him and finds herself at the funeral of one of his oldest friends and colleagues.
The relationship that is set in motion has an irresistible internal logic, even if they function to some extent as symbols of aching alienated urban need. Certainly the chemistry between these two experienced actors is characterised more by sad gravitas than sexual pyrotechnics.
We learn a lot about Devos' character Alix in the film's opening stanzas as she auditions for the part of a woman who has locked herself out of her apartment.
