Sundance 2021: Ma Belle, My Beauty
sundance 2021Marion Hill's feature directorial debut Ma Belle, My Beauty stands as an emotional capturing of the pain that past relationships can bring to individuals even years after a relationship ends. Set in the South of France, Bertie (Idella Johnson) reunites with her former partner and sees that their feelings for each other are far from over, yet the scars of their previous relationship still digs deep.
When it comes to complex relationship drama, Ma Belle, My Beauty feels raw and honest in the best of ways. Rather than crafting a typical back and forth between these two individuals, the film is careful to highlight the reality which isn't nearly as easy. Not only are the emotions themselves that the characters are battling challenging to process and accept but they hang as an elephant in the room that is nearly impossible to find closure with or talk about. Feelings of jealousy are not always a result of a justifiable situation and even if one has trouble rationalising their feelings, it doesn't change the power within them. Ma Belle, My Beauty's screenplay, also from Marion Hill, might be a bit messy and take a while to find the point, but once it does, this display of these emotions feel authentic and rather undeniable.
Where the screenplay is partly the reason the film finds these depths, the performances also play a large part in its success. The two lead actresses have an incredible amount of chemistry which both immediately sells why they were in a relationship at all and why their situation has become as dysfunctional as it truly is. Again, speaking to the authenticity of the human experience, it is incredibly easy for them to fall into the groove and find fun but once quietness rolls into their conversation, immediately an understanding is found regarding the communal pain they share. Idella Johnson specifically is stunning in the feature, serving as the main soul for the audience to experience this world and relationship through and feels incredibly vulnerable in her larger display of emotions.
The world in which Ma Belle, My Beauty takes place in also carries a life. This version of the South of France is luxurious and bright, serving as the perfect vacation-ish getaway for this relationship drama to play out in. It is foreign enough to put both the audience and characters outside of their traditional comfort zones while also feeling familiar enough to not feel distracting or out of place for the story being told. Whilst it might not stand as anything incredibly new, the cinematography from Lauren Guiteras and score from Mahmoud Chouki clearly are well crafted in bringing a living energy to the film.
Largely, it is this life that makes Ma Belle, My Beauty as effective as it is. Sure, the screenplay is a bit messy and the film doesn't have any incredibly lasting scenes that would elevate the film to being considered as one of the best of the year, but as a relationship drama, the film undeniably works. There is an authenticity to the emotions on display throughout the feature that is not always found in the genre and there is both a clear inspiration and craft to nearly every piece of the film.
