SIBYL
This sexy, intelligent dramedy follows a successful but emotionally fragile therapist who becomes dangerously entangled in the messy romantic life of her unstable new client.
The second teaming of In Bed with Victoria (PFF25) director Justine Triet and star Virginie Efira, Sibyl picks up with its titular heroine soon after she’s decided to put her successful but demanding psychotherapy practice on hold in order to write a novel. Then, along comes prospective patient Margot (Adèle Exarchopoulos, PFF22’s Blue Is the Warmest Color), a tortured young actress in the midst of a torrid affair. Margot’s lover Igor (Gaspard Ulliel) happens to be her costar in a film directed by his longtime girlfriend, high-strung Mika (Sandra Hüller, PFF25’s Toni Erdmann). Sibyl becomes increasingly entwined in the romantic chaos, bringing back painful memories that threaten to undo her hard-won emotional stability. Sibyl effortlessly melds elements of romantic melodrama, screwball comedy, and Hitchcockian thriller to create a thoroughly entertaining and quietly audacious whole. Though the cast is uniformly excellent (and Hüller’s turn is a tragicomic tour-de-force), the film truly belongs to Efira, an actress with movie star charisma and raw emotional vulnerability in equal measure.
CAST: VIRGINIE EFIRA, ADÈLE EXARCHOPOULOS, GASPARD ULLIEL, SANDRA HÜLLER
In Competition: Narrative Feature Award
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