Mitchell Beaupre

There’s something unexpected about the way Anaïs in Love pulls you in, with its airiness making it exactly the right film to watch at this moment as the sundresses are coming out and few things feel better than reading a good book in the grass. Some movies just feel like spring; Anaïs in Love is certainly one.

There’s a sense of this being more of a first draft of a stronger picture, one that could have built out those concepts into something more substantive, as opposed to merely scratching the surface. Nevertheless, it’s an entertaining watch, with plenty of peculiar touches.

In 2022 it’s a true gift seeing a film so unafraid of being as lurid, provocative, and unabashedly horny as Deep Water. Perhaps it took a seemingly retired master of the genre to resurrect the erotic thriller, and hopefully this somewhat buried release won’t cause people to miss it, or for its cultural footprint to not stand the test of time as it deserves.

What makes Here Before so much finer than its initial premise is the soul Gregg and Riseborough lend.

While her aesthetic may boast some grander flourishes than Hittman’s neorealism, there is nevertheless a vérité style to Diwan’s approach that places us right up against Anne for the majority of the film — a tight, boxed aspect ratio leads to the feeling of the walls closing in, her panic setting in just underneath the surface, observed in oft-used closeups of Vartolomei’s expressive face.

The final fifteen minutes are some of the most grueling ever put to screen.