Direction: Christos Nikou
Country: USA
Christos Nikou, known for his impactful directorial debut in Apples (2020) after working as an assistant director on notable films like Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth (2009) and Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight (2013), falls short with Fingernails. This low-stakes fiction attempts to blend sci-fi, romance, and drama but doesn't quite hit the mark. The central concept revolves around a machine determining one's true feelings for a partner, an idea that, while initially intriguing, comes off as rather silly. The film ends up breaking its own spell with repetition, totally missing the pounding pulse of truth.
The script centers on Anna (Jessie Buckley) and her husband, Ryan (Jeremy Allen White), who score a perfect 100% in their love test, yet their relationship appears to be dwindling. Doubt creeps in when Anna meets Amir (Riz Ahmed) at the love testing institute that she secretly started working for. Fingernails becomes a slow descent into torpor with not enough style or swagger to make it big. It feels like the work of a young director trying to impress without having fully formed ideas.
Despite potential in the machine-versus-heart dynamic, the film falters, and even Jessie Buckley's charm can't salvage an underwritten story that yearns for more depth. Regrettably, the execution feels too slick and fabricated to convey authenticity, the romance comes across as feeble, and the emotions fail to reach the heart. Alas, I didn't buy a word of it.
