Synopsis
Los Angeles, today. Henry (Adam Driver) is a stand-up comedian with a fierce sense of humor who falls in love with Ann (Marion Cotillard), a world-renowned opera singer. Under the spotlight, they form a passionate and glamorous couple. With the birth of their first child, Annette, a mysterious little girl with an exceptional destiny, their lives are turned upside down. A film by visionary director Leos Carax (Holy Motors), with story and music by Ron and Russell Mael, the duo known as Sparks, this original musical is a journey of love, passion and fame.
The Basic Storyline
Annette is a difficult movie to discuss without spoiling the entire film. On the surface, the plot seems pretty simple. Adam Driver plays a comedian named Henry who falls in love with an opera singer named Ann (Marion Cotillard). Their relationship is as volatile as it is beautiful. And eventually, they have a child – Annette. And that’s where things get a bit strange. You see, the first half of the film plays out like any number of love stories – albeit a fairly twisted one. The duo are quick to fall in love and quick to fall apart. But the second half is altogether weirder. Without going into any details, let’s just say the second half leans much harder into surrealism than the first half. Including a quite unsettling puppet of a toddler (which we’ll touch on in a bit.)
An Unsettling Experience – But in a Good Way?
Annette seems intent on being as unsettling and uncomfortable as possible – and I mean that in the best way. Ostensibly, it’s a musical. But it’s less a traditional movie musical and more of an abstract rock opera (think Pink Floyd’s The Wall). And, to be clear, this is absolutely an intentional choice made by director Leos Carax and writers Ron and Russell Mael. They weren’t going for traditional storytelling here. This is a film luxuriating in metaphors, surreal imagery, and boundless imagination. And every piece of the whole is in service of this goal. It’s a slow-paced, meandering look at the destruction of a marriage, and the toxicity that comes from that.
There are times where scenes just go on and on. Honestly, the movie could’ve easily cut half an hour without losing anything of value. But as soon as you start getting too bored, the movie veers off in some new direction that hooks you back in. In many ways, Annette is less of a narrative story and more of an emotional and intellectual journey you go on. And I know how pretentious that sounds. But if that description turns you off, then Annette isn’t the movie for you. But if that sounds like your cup of tea, then there’s a pretty good chance you’re gonna like this movie. As for me, I fall somewhere between the two camps. I appreciate what the film was going for, and I enjoyed large parts of it. But both the plot/themes and the characters were just a little too underdeveloped for my personal tastes.
Underdeveloped Themes and Characters
Most of what happens in this movie comes across as more of a nebulous cloud of interesting ideas rather than a fully fleshed-out narrative. It’s a movie full of big ideas that never quite coalesce into a satisfying whole. There’s a doomed romance angle and many critiques on the media, stardom, toxic masculinity, and more. But there’s just not quite enough focus to develop any of these ideas with any real depth. They’re good themes, and they’re often explored quite compellingly. But don’t go into this expecting the film to give you any answers for the questions it poses. Now, to be fair, a lot of these individual moments are wildly entertaining. And the overarching storyline does work. It’s a sort of Greek tragedy, which gives all of these weird moments a good foundation to stand on. It’s just that the overall execution is a bit of a mixed bag.
Equally underdeveloped are the film’s characters. For a movie called Annette, you’d expect it to be about Annette. But Annette barely registers as a character. Instead, she’s more of a prop in her parents’ dysfunctional relationship. And as for her parents, they’re a bit of a mixed bag. Ann isn’t given much development besides “successful opera singer”. She’s so paper-thin that the movie probably would’ve been more enjoyable if it had sped through the early stages of her romance with Henry, instead of spending most of the first hour on it. And as for Henry himself, he’s a deeply unlikeable character who never becomes likable. And while that’s absolutely the point of the narrative, I still wish Henry went on more of an arc. He starts out pretty unlikeable and just gets more despicable. Which, again, is kind of the point. But it’s not done in a very fun way.
Performances
All of that being said, the actors deliver phenomenal performances. There are three core actors in Annette – Driver, Cotillard, and Simon Helberg. While the script doesn’t give Cotillard or Helberg much to work with, they do a great job anyway. Ann is such a thin character, but Cotillard makes her feel a bit more three-dimensional. And Helberg’s Composer makes for a nice foil for Henry, though he’s only in a quarter of the film or so. Adam Driver carries most of the movie on his shoulders, and he delivers a stellar performance. Henry might not be worth rooting for, but Driver’s performance is captivating. It’s like watching a trainwreck in slow motion – but in a good way. Henry is such a stereotypically insecure man, and you just know he’s going to implode spectacularly. Driver perfectly captures that, forcing the audience to join Henry on his downward spiral.
In terms of singing, the entire cast does a respectable job. Helberg doesn’t do much singing; instead, rhythmically speaking most of his songs. But it kind of works. Cotillard, however, does sing – but only sometimes. When she does sing, she’s got a nice voice. But the film dubs her during Ann’s opera sequences – and it’s a weird choice. Sure, Cotillard’s natural singing voice doesn’t quite sound like an operatic soprano. But dubbing her voice for those songs ended up creating quite a jarring difference between the opera songs and the rest of Ann’s songs. Driver is probably the most consistent singer of the bunch. He carries a tune well, and his voice blends in the most with the style of the film’s score.
The Spectacle
Speaking of the film’s score, it’s solid. Written and composed by the Mael Brothers (aka Sparks), the music leans heavily into its rock opera roots. A lot of the songs are abstract and act as transitional pieces rather than character-revealing ones. There are also a lot of dialogue-heavy songs, as is often the case in sung-through musicals and operas. But unlike other similar musicals, these songs are extremely repetitive. For example, there’s a love ballad early on that’s sung by Driver and Cotillard, and literally half of the lyrics are the same line: “We love each other so much.” And sure, this approach adds to the surreal nature of the film. But it doesn’t necessarily make for good listening. The songs do mostly work, though. The score’s not the catchiest one I’ve ever heard, but it gets the job done.
The visuals, however, lean pretty hard into the movie-musical style – but with a sort of modern twist. As you might expect in a movie musical, there are lots of big camera movements, luscious colors, gorgeous sets, and fun camera trickery. But all of it is bathed in this surreal aura. There’s a scene on a yacht in a terrible storm, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. But the camera keeps moving in along with the waves, making the whole thing more frantic and frightening. And it’s ridiculously effective. And the same is true for most of the other sequences in the film. Annette feels like the kind of movie that prioritizes its visuals over its story, and it shows. Because the visuals are easily the most noteworthy thing about the movie.
The Puppet
There’s one thing, in particular, that everyone will be talking about. And that’s the Annette puppet. It’s simultaneously a brilliant bit of craftsmanship and an utterly horrifying one. To be fair, it seems pretty intentional that the puppet is unsettling, but it’s still kind of a strange choice given how important Annette is to the overall story. But still, it’s a really cool, really unsettling puppet. It’s just kind of a shame that it never feels particularly believable as a human being and always just looks like a puppet.
Final Thoughts
I’m still not entirely sure if I liked Annette or not. Everything I had a problem with seems like a choice intentionally made by the filmmakers. And for that, I applaud them because I think they succeeded at what they set out to do. Annette is an experience. It’s as entertaining as it is baffling, and it’s an undeniably well-made movie. It’s one of those movies you can’t stop thinking about. As a narrative, I wish there’d been a bit more work put into developing the characters and tightening the pacing of the plot. But as an overall experience? There’s as much to like as there is to dislike. Like I said earlier, if this isn’t your kind of movie, you’re gonna hate it. But if abstract rock operas with more of a focus on visuals than narrative are your thing, then Annette‘s gonna delight.
Rating: 3.5/5
Annette is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Director: Leos Carax
Writers: Ron and Russell Mael
Producers: Charles Gillibert, Paul-Dominique Vacharasinthu, Adam Driver
Rated: R
Runtime: 2h 21m
Part-time writer, part-time theatre nerd, full-time dork.
