Muriel’s Parents are Desperate

What’s interesting to me about about Muriel’s Parents are Desperate is the influence American indie films clearly played in it. Handheld camera, a small story and a focus on some version of cinema verite all feature in this film. It’s an interesting inversion as generally, it is American films taking queues from French and other European cinema. Muriel’s Parents are Desperate is a French film that’s trying to looking like an American film.

The film follows what happens after 17 year old Muriel’s already shitty parents react poorly to her coming out. After her mother says every possible worst thing you can say to your child coming out, Muriel runs away to the city. Here, she meets Nora. Nora is a little older and a major wild child. She brings Muriel along on a series of minor adventures along with her sometimes boyfriend, Fred. Nora kisses Muriel which makes Muriel develop a serious attachment despite the fact that Nora is straight. Blinded by her adoration for this cooler, older girl, Muriel allows herself to be dragged into Nora’s world. In vain, Muriel searches for the affection her parents withheld from her.

Muriel does feature the classic French cinema feature of being a bit over sexualized. Muriel as both film and character fall victim to the male gaze. Did we need a shot of this teenage character in the bath where the water conveniently hits right below her breasts? Probably not. And then there’s Nora. Nora is a Lana Del Rey song protagonist of a character. She’s this young, sexually charged, confident tease of a woman. Nora enjoys stringing people along for fun but laughing at them when they display affection. None of this is inherently wrong, but Nora’s presentation is very much a male writer depicting this sort of female character. Nora is a biased depiction of an archetypal character that rarely if ever exists in the real world.

Still, actress Dominique Perrier gives a good performance as Nora. She’s good opposition to shy and quiet Muriel. What the film succeeds in is depicting Nora as clearly bad news while also making the audience completely understand why Muriel is so taken with her. Of course this young, shy girl would latch on to this sexy, confident woman who leverages her affection instead of offering it freely. Muriel’s rejection by her parents makes her even more prone to latch onto anyone who shows her affection. Sadly for Muriel, that person was Nora plays on this factor.

Luckily, by the end of the film, Muriel has met another woman at a house party who is actually gay. So, Muriel gets some gay experience beyond the unrequited straight crush. Good for you, Muriel. After multiple scenes of her mother saying the truly worst things you can say as a parent, Muriel deserves a nice girlfriend. I’m very pleased for her that her teenage rebellion didn’t have any long-lasting consequences and that the ending of the film shows her as a mature, reasonably well-adjusted individual moving forward.

Muriel’s Parents are Desperate is ultimately a movie that’s perfectly fine but not great. At 71 minutes, it’s a quick sit but also doesn’t succeed in fully drawing me in. This is an unremarkable film that’s competent more often than not but not interesting enough for me to call it good. My ending thought about Muriel’s Parents are Desperate is that it sure is a movie that exists.

Overall rating: 5.5/10

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