Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Two Lovers and a Bear (2016)

IMDb plot summary: Set in a small town near the North Pole where roads lead to nowhere, the story follows Roman and Lucy, two burning souls who come together to make a leap for life and inner peace.
Directed by Kim Nguyen. Starring Tatiana Maslany, Dane DeHaan, and Gordon Pinsent.

Two Lovers and a Bear is a romance set up in a small Arctic village, where two young adults -- sometimes seeming so young as to make me wonder if they're actual teenagers -- attempt to face their trauma together. Dane DeHaan and Tatiana Maslany are the leads here, and they make this whole film and its very narrow claustrophobic atmosphere work. You sense right from the beginning that these lovers are basically doomed but can't help rooting for them as they try to (sometimes very literally) run from the ghosts that haunt them. If the film were any longer it would feel too aimless and meandering, but as it stands it gives us just enough time to care about these characters and just enough action for us to stay connected. I also appreciate how casually it incorporates a fantastical element (or perhaps it isn't intended to be taken literally -- I chose to do so). This is definitely one that I think will sit with me for a long time after this viewing. It had that kind of weighty effect on me.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Two Lovers and a Bear > The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Two Lovers and a Bear > The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Two Lovers and a Bear > The White Tiger
Two Lovers and a Bear > Fatal Attraction
Two Lovers and a Bear < A Night at the Opera
Two Lovers and a Bear < Mirai
Two Lovers and a Bear < Hot Fuzz
Two Lovers and a Bear < Moxie
Two Lovers and a Bear < Everything Everywhere All at Once
Two Lovers and a Bear > 28 Days Later...
Two Lovers and a Bear < Equus
Two Lovers and a Bear > Tick, Tick... Boom!
Final spot: #236 out of 3850, or 94%.

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