X
- 2023
- R
- Apple
- 1 h 53 m
- 2023
- R
- Apple
- 1 h 53 m
Summary Anna (Jessie Buckley) increasingly suspects that her relationship with her longtime partner (Jeremy Allen White) may not actually be the real thing. In an attempt to improve things, she secretly embarks on a new assignment working at a mysterious institute designed to incite and test the presence of romantic love in increasingly desperat...
Directed By: Christos Nikou
Written By: Sam Steiner, Stavros Raptis, Christos Nikou
- 2023
- R
- Apple
- 1 h 53 m
- 2023
- R
- Apple
- 1 h 53 m
Fingernails
63
5.7
Where to Watch
Summary Anna (Jessie Buckley) increasingly suspects that her relationship with her longtime partner (Jeremy Allen White) may not actually be the real thing. In an attempt to improve things, she secretly embarks on a new assignment working at a mysterious institute designed to incite and test the presence of romantic love in increasingly desperat...
Directed By: Christos Nikou
Written By: Sam Steiner, Stavros Raptis, Christos Nikou
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
63
53% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
37% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
10% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
63
53% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
37% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
10% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
This gently humorous movie operates so smoothly you may not notice its subversiveness.
For some, Nikou’s deliberate intent to portray a subtly warped reality may read as forced. But there’s an endearing bizarreness to “Fingernails,” his first film in English, that allows him to grasp at some of the intricacies of the human condition, steeped in silences as much as heartfelt analysis.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 15 User Ratings
5.7
40% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
40% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
20% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 15 User Ratings
5.7
40% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
40% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
20% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
How do we know when we’re in love? And, even if we suspect we are, how do we know if we’re with the right person? In an age where individuals are increasingly out of touch with their own feelings – especially the one they seem to crave the most – these are pressing questions that desperately beg answers. So what should we do? Maybe technology is the answer. But how reliable is it? Can we trust it to give us definitive, accurate, meaningful results? Those are the issues that writer-director Christos Nikou addresses in his second feature outing, an excellent follow-up to his superb debut, “Apples” (2020), hitting his second cinematic home run in a row. In this insightful romantic comedy/drama, the filmmaker takes viewers on a heartfelt yet delightfully quirky absurdist odyssey in a society where amorously lost souls seek verification of the validity of their partnerships through a medical test that calls for the removal of one of each of the partners’ fingernails as a means of scientifically determining compatibility (talk about an act of commitment). And, to strengthen those relationships, the organization sponsoring these tests augments the results with a series of carefully structured (though frequently hilarious, somewhat clichéd and often seemingly preposterous) lessons designed to promote enhanced intimacy. But are these exercises proof positive of a successful match? That’s a question raised by one of the organization’s new instructors (Jessie Buckley), who has **** doubts about the long-term viability of her relationship with her supposedly verified true love (Jeremy Allen White). The ante is further upped when she meets a fellow instructor (Riz Ahmed) with whom an unspoken but decidedly sensuous mutual attraction develops. In light of that then, can old-fashioned gut feelings legitimately trump allegedly solid science, particularly at a time when technology is being trumpeted as a panacea for all our problems, including those of an emotional nature? “Fingernails” does an exceedingly thoughtful job of examining these matters while incorporating both sublime yet sidesplitting humor and offbeat theoretical concepts that give us much to think about, qualities that helped to establish and distinguish Nikou as a director in his first film. In this offering, however, he builds upon that stylistic foundation by adding themes aimed at promoting truly genuine feelings aimed at plucking the heartstrings without becoming manipulative or sappy, creating a layered, thought-provoking, richly rewarding viewing experience. This is all brought to life by the fine performances of the three protagonists and an excellent supporting cast, backed by skillfully crafted humor parodying a number of other films and a nuanced soundtrack consisting of deftly chosen selections that definitively set the mood for countless scenes. Admittedly, the generally solid pacing could have used some tweaking in a few sequences, and the ending could have been a little more developed, but these modest shortcomings detract little from the overall quality of this fine production. If you doubt that, see this one for yourself and let your own mind – and not some technical contraption or overly intellectualized abstraction – decide for you.
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Depois de arrasar em "Estou pensando em acabar com tudo", Jessie Buckley volta a dar o ar de sua graça a uma protagonista, com uma pegada similar ao filme supracitado, mas com um ar meio distópico/futurista. A ambientação funciona, mas o desfecho deixa a desejar.
É mais um caso típico de potencial roteiro desperdiçado. Temos uma sociedade em que uma máquina consegue testar se os parceiros podem dar certo ou não, e não sei se de forma proposital ou não, o resultado do teste, sempre circunscrito a um par, só podeter como resultado variáveis discretas: 0, 50 ou 100%. Não há aqui uma densidade numérica maior. E, claro, o fator estranho: feito a partir de pedaços da unha das pessoas!!
Assim, Anna irá trabalhar numa espécie de empresa que oferece treinamento aos casais visando aumentar a probabilidade de "darem match", o que por si já instiga a dizer: é algo natural ou algo que possa ser construído, aprendido, modificado? Até que pnto podemos ir contra nossa natureza ou mesmo nossa intuição para ficarmos com a pessoa que achamos ser a certa? Estaríamos dando murro em ponto de faca?
Assim, com mais questionamentos interessantes como esse e, infelizmente, pouco desenvolvimento, o filme vai contornando as situações para por à prova os resultados da máquina, deixando aos humanos um resquício de liberdade.
Aí sim, entraria uma série de questões filosóficas sobre a liberdade humana, ética e consciência frente a um destino que a máquina parece querer perenizar. Mas qual é o espanto que o filme se jogue no triângulo amoroso e construa feixes visuais que tão somente abarcam a delicada relação que vai se estabalecendo. Pelo menos aqui a jogada com os números dá uma certa ideia de interpretação em aberto, bem como a tensão romântica entreos envolvidos está muito bem feita, exceto, talvez, pelo marido de Anna, cujo roteiro poderia torná-lo menos caricato.
Assim, o filme vai caminhando para uma história de amor romântico tradicional. Tinha tanto potencial,como por exemplo discutir diferentes formas de amor, seja qualitativas ou quantitativas mesmo, por exemplo, como a máquina reagiria a um trisal? Ou se optasse por permanecer na seara do tradicional (como o fez) que pelo menos se aprofundasse em questões morais mais interessantes sobre o livre-arbítrio, mas acaba entregando um romance que quer vencer a probabilidade e, com isso, acaba por soar genérico aos padrões de filmes românticos produzidos pelo cinema.
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The quiet soulfulness of Buckley, Ahmed, and White makes for a banquet of slow cinema, one that haunts more than shocks in its parsing of love, lust, and longing.
Even though it’s a story that severely lacks for surprise, in both the silly nature of the tests and the question of Anna and Amir’s latent bond, the actors take the material seriously enough for the film to remain engaging enough.
There’s nowhere for the movie to go once it establishes that the safety love offers can also be the source of its undoing.
There’s so much dead space and so little insight in Fingernails as it trudges toward a conclusion that can be figured out in the first five minutes.
'Fingernails' feels like it takes place in the 'Severance' or 'The Lobster' universes. It's a modest science fiction and romance film that asks: what if there was a way science could certify that two people are in love? The premise is promising; however, writer/director Christos Nikou makes the plot somewhat boring and pointless. The performances anchor themselves to deadpan comedy and are generally decent, but the characters don't have much to do, especially Jeremy Allen White, who turns out to be criminally underused. In the end, Nikou ponders about human connection, our sometimes problematic relationship with algorithms, and our neverending need for certainty. Unfortunately, the questions raised here do not lead to anything worth discussing.
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Fingernails is an intriguing sci-fi/romance film that tells a story in which love is measured through a very strange and painful test that consists of tearing off a fingernail from each of the members of the relationship.This is a recurring theme in science fiction movies in which an algorithm or some kind of invention is the one that tells you who is supposedly the ''love'' of your life, only for the main characters to discover that emotions play the defining role in their choices. Nothing new there, but I recognize that the concept is captivating enough, though it ends up sounding better on paper than what the movie ends up executing with it.Fingernails exhibits a lack of subtlety and intensity in addressing issues of affection and the characters' own insecurities, and this happens because in my opinion the script tries more to sell the central process of its plot rather than delve into the motivations, so you get the idea of what the story is doing quite well, but at the same time it turns out to be frustratingly pointless and derivative.Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed's exceptional performances rescue the film. Their work deserves praise, but I do think Fingernails could have benefitted from a more imaginative execution to achieve a more enduring impact, rather than merely becoming another project destined to get lost in the vast sea of streaming content without making any significant noise.
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Well performed, particularly by an effortless Ahmed, but the black mirror-esque B plot really goes nowhere slowly. Leading to anticipated and anticlimactic ending.
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The couple played by Jessie Buckley and Jeremy Allen White seem to be happy. It's been confirmed by the new tech that analyzes compatibility by pulling out a fingernail from each person. She takes a new job at a firm that specializes in helping people whose results aren't positive to improve their chances. Her new mentor (Riz Ahmed) presents problems when she might be in love with him. This interesting sci-fi concept (presented in a low tech world) could pave the way for a powerful examination of love, particularly given the trio of exceptional actors. However, the middling pace and mild writing never give them much chance to shine, resulting in a predictable plot that takes too long. Plus, why could any world where there's such advanced expertise rely on the brutal ripping out a fingernail without anesthesia? This movie was shot on film (perhaps to give it a low-fi look), but the constant appearance of white flecks and other film artifacts is distracting, esp. when they can easily be digitally eliminated. The cast was promising, but they're not given sufficient opportunity to create a moving or even especially involving drama (I shudder to think how bad this would have been with mediocre actors).
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Awards
San Sebastián International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Thessaloniki Film Festival
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
London Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
