Finding new depths of tenderness without forgoing the uncompromising fatalism that defines his work, Noé’s latest film, which is evocative of Haneke’s Amour, guides us through a handful of dark days in the lives of an elderly couple in Paris: a retired psychiatrist (Françoise Lebrun) and a writer (film director Dario Argento) working on a book about the intersection of cinema and dreams.
Prompted by the recent departures of several close friends, and his own recent near-death experience, Noé’s extraordinary film unfolds as a compassionate tale of murmured terrors and nameless dread.