I can’t honestly say I always knew what the hell was going on in this movie. But I always wanted to know, and that means that something was going right.
Although Giga Agladze wrote and directed the thriller, David Lynch is the Executive Producer, and you can see why he was cool with having his imprimatur on the film – it has loads of Lynchian touches, which is a warning to some viewers and the ultimate recommendation to others.
In the opening scenes Irakli (Jim Sturgess) and his wife, Nutsa (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) are in the doctor’s office where the doc is telling them straight up that Irakli has a degenerative disease that is going to gradually, but steadily make him blind.
The bad news forces husband and wife to say the quiet part out loud- that their troubled marriage is only going to get worse. But as his sight gets blurrier, she vows to stay and take care of him, not that she isn’t struggling with the idea of fidelity and the need for something/someone else.
Irakli is a talented, aspiring architect, whose current job as bartender is not exactly fulfilling and even that gig is slipping through his fingers. Thank fully, he has a loyal buddy who drives him around and takes him to the art museum, which Irakli insists on continuing to go to, even as the works of art start to look like something weird and foreign to him.
One day, he gets off at the end of the line on the subway train, which happens to be at the edge of an idyllic forest. A cute little house in the woods gets his attention, and he knocks on the door of what seems to be an empty place, but a beautiful and mysterious woman opens the door. Her name is Nino (Andreja Pejic).
And here is where things really start to get…quirky.
The woman is an artist who lives alone in this cottage, and she and Irakli hit things off with amazing rapidity. Their talks are in language that’s almost poetic and their connection is deep.
There are subplots involving the wife’s job as a maid for an American, and a reveal involving his pal that has been his guide, and other little touches that don’t necessarily drive the narrative so much as they add little character flourishes – like a few light brushstrokes on the canvas, here and there.
As he goes blind, he can actually “see” visions that are surreal and sometimes spooky, but they help him understand the true motives of people, and ultimately, through his relationship with Nino, he’ll come to reckon with his own true identity.
Sturgess is great in the flick-you’ve seen him before in bigger budget films, and the cast all around are well cast for the roles. Although their character names are not in English, most of the actors are English (Pejic is from Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the film is in English. Director Agladze is from the country of Georgia.
You kind of know if this is your thing or not. For me, I want to go back and watch a second time to make sure I got it. But I wasn’t bored and remained curious as to what would happen next.
The Other Me| Not rated| Releases February 4th in Select Theatres and on Digital from Gravitas Ventures | 2 ½ out of 4 Stars
