Between Them

Between Them doesn’t quite feel like a fully realized movie. Made in 2021, Between Them is a rare movie that directly acknowledges the COVID-19 pandemic. But between that acknowledgement and the quality of the movie, the film feels less like something fully realized and more like a project to get back in the swing of things after lockdown.

The film opens with Dimitri Corel hiring an investigator named Valérie. Dimitri is certain his wife, Lucie is cheating on him. Dimitri’s evidence is pretty flimsy. She’s beautiful and works away from home. With those two factors, she must be having an affair! Valérie initially tries to dissuade him, but Dimitri offers her enough money that Valérie caves. So, she goes to Montreal and follows Lucie around. She doesn’t see any evidence of an affair. But she does develop an obsession with Lucie and orchestrates a meeting between them.

This isn’t the first or last movie with the premise of a spouse hiring someone to find out if their spouse is cheating. That’s a fun, often sexy premise that can make for solid relationship and character work. What Between Them reminded me most of in this regard is the 2003 French language film, Nathalie, and its 2009 English remake with additional WLW content, Chloe. Between Them isn’t as good as either. There’s not suitable style to develop enough intrigue. And it’s not like Nathalie or Chloe are particularly stylistically memorable. But do have enough style to help sell the premise. But next to Between Them, both feel like a Brian de Palma film.

Between Them is shot in a naturalistic style. Handheld camera, no soundscape, few stylistic flourishes. This does not help sell this story. There’s no sense of mounting tension or desire. There’s no sense of anything, really. Valérie’s obsession with Lucie feels like it comes from nowhere. There’s no dialogue referencing a pattern of behaviour, nor camerawork to put the audience into Valérie’s position. Not even a voiceover to witness as Valérie’s thoughts become more fixated on Lucie. Instead, all we get is a really lengthy scene of Valérie stalking Lucie and afterwards, some dialogue about how she’s obsessed with Lucie. Then, Valérie masturbates in her car about it.

The story isn’t pulling its weight either. Valérie and Lucie seem to just do things, and the film just rolls along with it. We watch as Valérie does her job for far too long. Then, at a seemingly random point, she becomes obsessed with Lucie for no reason. Likewise, when Valérie and Lucie meet, things just sort of happen. Lucie is willing to engage with this stranger who knows too much about her. And she even enters into an affair with minimal thought, despite being married. Valérie has a partner too, but don’t worry about it. These women have a connection, apparently. One that was never fully expressed onscreen.

Between Them just doesn’t have anything to offer. That’s the gist of it. This is a really forgettable film with a standard premise and below average execution. Despite this low rating, I didn’t hate the film either. There’s not enough here to summon any sort of emotion, let alone hate.

Overall rating: 3/10

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