The One I Love

Courtesy of Radius-TWC and Duplass Brothers Productions

This is one of the smartest and yet simple concepts I have seen in the fantasy/relationship drama genre. Going in I was unaware of the concept, which revolves around a troubled couple at a resort, who find that the back guest house is a door into some kind of fantasy world where they find their true bliss, at a great cost. The ingenuity and frank discourse between the couple made for a thoughtful and entertaining watch.

 Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass are intense, integral figures in this film, and give great performances throughout. They shift seamlessly between a concerned, earnestly fighting couple into sweet lovebirds, to vicious, calculating foes. At its crux this film is about the love and intimacies of a couple who is drifting apart. It's emotionally devastating to see two people onscreen who are in love, and yet can’t find a way to enjoy each other anymore. Even with its otherworldly concept this film is grounded in the relationship of two people who only want to be happy again, something that should be simple, but really isn't.

 The concept sounds simple, but veers into strange, conceptual fantasy in the last twenty minutes or so. The rules, that we believe are set up within this world, change, and a level of tension is introduced in the confines of the story because of it. It's kind of difficult to understand the world that is built throughout the film, because it comes to light that this occurrence isn't some form of whimsical fantasy, but instead a multi-level conspiracy perpetrated by an unknown entity. In the last minutes of the film we're not even sure we know exactly what happened, or whether or not it all makes sense.

 This is a film that will stay with you, and boggle your brain, for days on end. It's smart, concise, it emotionally invests you from the beginning, its score is gorgeous, and it's simply a maddening puzzle that will take you forever to figure out.