‘Fingernails’ Movie Review [Philadelphia Film Festival 2023]: A Well-Acted Film With A Silly Premise
Photo from the Philadelphia Film Festival
From Joe Peltzer
Should I ever trap another human being into being in a relationship with me, we absolutely will not be having our fingernails pulled out to confirm our love (cue Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love [But I Won’t Do That]). There certainly have been many films with odd premises over the years, but Fingernails is one that doesn’t put much meat behind the setup. Aside from some solid performances, this Apple TV+ project is much adieu about nothing.
In the film, a strange new technology is used to test for true love between partners. When Anna (Jessie Buckley) begins working at a testing center, she meets Amir (Riz Ahmed), leading her to question her relationship with Ryan (Jeremy Allen White). Apples filmmaker Christos Nikou wrote the script for Fingernails with Stavros Raptis and Sam Steiner, a slow-burn romance of sorts doesn’t do much with its unique concept. Set in an ambiguous time (though set design harkens back to the 80’s/90’s with a pale color pallet), the film never ratchets up the intensity or intrigue, instead remaining rather one-note from start to finish.
Jessie Buckley delivers a solid performance with the little that she is given; of the entire cast, her character seems to have the most going on under the surface. She wants to believe in true love, and has faith in the “test,” but is clearly feeling her heart pulled in conflicting directions. Buckley’s scenes with Riz Ahmed, also doing a lot with a little here, never are lacking in interesting tension, but the payoff never arrives and the fuse, though teased, is never lit. It’s not for a lack of casting success as Buckley and Ahmed have wildly effective chemistry. Nikou’s story and its exploration of its characters remains surface level, the lack of development frustrating for everyone, but especially Jeremy Allen White. Even in the latter stages of the film, his discussions with Buckley’s Anna are simply dull. Luke Wilson and Annie Murphy can also be spotted in the film, the former a bit more than the latter who delivers a cinematic drive-by. Each of film’s stars see their efforts contained in a box, a true waste.
Fingernails ultimately feels unsatisfying due to a lack of meaning throughout. Perhaps there is something to be said for their not being a way to measure true love for real, but creative choices between Buckley and Ahmed’s characters leaves that thread unraveled. Whereas Apple was a deeper exploration of psyche and humanity, Nikou seems content with a more blinkered approach to Fingernails. Composer Christopher Stracey has produced a score that is complimentary to the obvious emotional directions of the characters, though ends up more developed than the storylines it supports. The pieces are there, and the film is edited beautifully, but individual ingredients on their own to not make a tasty dish.
Rating: 2/5
Fingernails screened at the 32nd Philadelphia Film Festival and will hit limited theaters on October 27th, 2023 before streaming on Apple TV+ starting November 3rd, 2023.
