Jules of Light and Dark

As a film in its entirety, Jules of Light and Dark has much in common with its protagonist. Both are vague, aimless and don’t evoke any strong emotion in me as a viewer.

Maya and Jules are very close, though not on the same page about what their relationship is. Jules calls Maya her best friend. But for Maya, her homosexuality and the closeness and sex she and Jules have makes her perceive the relationship differently. After a wild night at some sort of farm rave, Jules and Maya are found seriously injured on the side of the road by Freddie, a loner older guy who the movie does too much in trying to make you like him. As Jules and Maya recover from their injuries, their relationship collapses and Maya begins a friendship with Freddie.

Jules of Light and Dark feels unsure of what it’s going for. The focus is not there. The most amount of care and attention is given to the scenes of Maya and Freddie’s burgeoning friendship. But this too doesn’t connect because they only actually have three or four scenes together. This means that without any sort of buildup, they develop a close friendship from nowhere. Likewise, without necessary build up, I don’t really care these two characters are friends. I definitely don’t care about Freddy, despite the movie working overtime to often centralize him over either of the female characters.

For all that the movie is called Jules of Light and Dark, Jules doesn’t feature much in the film. She’s almost entirely absent by the last act. And the film doesn’t develop her enough to where she could have light and dark aspects. Really, Jules is a concept more than a character. She’s not an individual, she’s a representative of failed relationships and youthful indiscretions and unrequited feelings. Even Maya’s response to her as a character doesn’t run a light to dark gamut. Underwritten as this movie is, I can understand Maya’s unrequited feelings towards Jules, but there aren’t numerous levels or much development on that score.

I think the film wants to be a mood piece more than anything. The haziness and the vagueness is clearly intentional. It’s about the “vibes”, man. I don’t really care for these vibes. Jules of Light and Dark is like dozens of other hipster indie movies I’ve seen that love to have a scene of girls dancing and wearing glitter but they’re in slow motion so it’s melancholic. Screenplay came second to visual direction in this project. But the visual direction isn’t anything to write home about either.

Jules of Light and Dark just sort of ends. It lacks a notable climax. And while there is movement in both Maya and Freddy’s stories, there isn’t really a conclusion. Aimless as the rest of the movie, the film sort of wanders to a close and then the credits play. I felt very little while watching the film. My strongest emotion as it ended was one of relief.

Overall rating: 3.6/10

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