‘Darkest Miriam’ Review – A Powerful Story Exploring Grief And Love [Tribeca 2024]

No matter how meticulously you plan your life and try to set yourself up well, sometimes you end up in survival mode in a dead-end job with no way out of the daily haze you find yourself in. Millions of people live like this, just getting by and not truly thriving, not experiencing life to its fullest. Darkest Miriam paints a portrait of this kind of life, and what it takes to be swept out of the fog. Naomi Jaye’s captivating adaptation of Martha Baille’s novel The Incident Report stars Britt Lower as the titular Miriam, a millennial librarian at a small branch of the Toronto library system. Miriam’s existence is quiet and quaint, doing just enough to get through each day dealing with unbelievable things that people from off the street do during her shift at the library. With no living or connected family, Miriam’s only human connection comes from the patrons of the library and the colleagues who work there.

The film’s portrayal of grief and loneliness is poignantly real and is sure to bring up reminders of these experiences for even the most hard-hearted viewer. It takes all of Miriam’s strength to make it through the day only to collapse in anguish upon returning home. Her only solace is her daily lunch outing on a park bench where she reads and enjoys the fresh air. It’s here that she meets Janko (Tom Mercier), a young cab driver she remembers seeing in the library occasionally. They share a glance from their respective park benches and eventually strike up a conversation that quickly leads to romance.

It’s beautiful how quickly Miriam’s attitude and demeanor change after she and Janko begin their relationship. Theirs is assuredly not the most romantic and magnetizing relationship ever committed to film, but it works for her. The sudden attention and care Janko gives to her is enough to release her from the murky waters of the past few years. The only troubles haunting her now are the notes she keeps finding in the most random of places in the library seemingly threatening her and her new love interest. These anonymous notes are mysteriously connected to a childhood memory of Miriam and her father going to the opera to see Verdi’s Rigoletto. The author of these letters appears to think they are Rigoletto himself speaking to his daughter.

Darkest Miriam is a wonderful story contained in itself, but also speaks to the experience of real people. They fall into the trap of isolationist existence all too easily, and there is no one to turn to with any pain or grief they feel. All it takes is one special person to flip the switch and bring them back to life. Miriam and Janko’s love is not what you see in classic romance or romantic comedies, but feels simple and authentic. True love has its moments of over-the-top romance but tends to look more like consistently choosing one another and sharing life together. We want to be chosen, to feel seen and known. Miriam finally gets to experience this with Janko, and it makes it easier to deal with her pain and have someone to lean on. Even with this exciting new romantic development, Miriam still has a hard time with her past. Her life is not fixed, but it is markedly better.

Powerful and profound, Naomi Jaye’s Darkest Miriam explores the realities of both grief and love through a small glimpse into one person’s life. Miriam’s story is much like many of ours, and like that of the people we see every day, and if we take these lessons to heart maybe we, too, can make people feel seen and understood and bring them out of the fog they’ve been in for far too long.

Darkest Miriam held its World Premiere as a part of the Viewpoints section of the 2024 Tribeca Festival.

Director: Naomi Jaye

Screenwriter: Naomi Jaye

Rated: NR

Runtime: 87m