Fingernails is set in a world where being in love can be quantified. Anna (Jessie Buckley) begins to question everything when she starts working with her charming colleague Amir (Riz Ahmed).
Fingernails
Christos Nikou (director), Christos Nikou, Sam Steiner, Stavros Raptis (writers), Marcel Rév (cinematography), Yorgos Zafeiris (editor)
Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White, Luke Wilson (cast)
September 12, 2023 (TIFF)
Content advisory: minor gore
My experience watching the TIFF23 film Fingernails was certainly memorable. Perhaps it was the Friday evening feeling of freedom, but the screening I attended had pockets of rambunctious audience members that added an air of joviality to the proceedings. One group in a corner yelled back at every ad on the screen, leaving the rest of us hysterical. Of course, the Bulgari ad had everyone tapping their feet and clapping along. The group of viewers in my area was easy to laugh with, and I laughed loudly alongside them. The best part of the film was the lady next to me, who, for fear of seeing something gory, literally hid behind her scarf. Suffice to say, when you have so much fun watching a movie, the film itself deserves to be enjoyable.
And I genuinely enjoyed Fingernails. It ends on a slightly heavier note than it starts off with, but the film is consistent in asking the question, will technology ever know how we really feel?
Fingernails is set in an alternate universe where people can actually afford decent-sized homes in Toronto—oh sorry, I digress. I mean, the film is set in an alternate universe where technology can judge how in love couples are. Said technology led to a crisis of people learning, to their horror, they weren’t in love—or worse, one person was in love and the other wasn’t.
Thankfully, that’s not a problem for our protagonist Anna, because she and her boyfriend Ryan tested positive and literally have a certificate saying they are in love. If the certificate says so, that means Anna and Ryan are definitely in love, right? Well, when the story throws a Riz Ahmed-shaped curveball Anna’s way, she begins to have doubts. But can she trust her feelings when there’s a machine that could tell her otherwise?
Fingernails is so simple, and yet so arresting. Anna and Amir, Ahmed’s character, work together at the Love Institute, helping couples through a bunch of, sometimes bizarre, exercises that will help them bond and become closer together so they can get a positive result.
You will fall in love watching these two characters on screen together—Amir is passionate about his work, and infinitely kind and patient with his clients, but it’s his caustic humour that had the audience, and Anna, in splits. You can’t help but love a guy like Amir. Of course, when he’s played by Riz Ahmed, the charm factor definitely increases. I’ll confess that I’m a fan of Ahmed’s work, and he’s always bewitching on screen, irrespective of who he plays. His performance in Fingernails is remarkable because he’s so believable and real. I think I loved seeing him in this role even more because not so long ago, the cast for a story like this would not have included a character of colour. But Amir is Amir, and Ahmed’s ethnicity plays absolutely no role in what a lovely leading man he makes.
And Anna is gentle and eager but so smart. It’s not a spoiler to say that she is a hopeless romantic. Jessie Buckley gives a winning performance which is understated but subtle. It’s the look in her eyes that captures all her emotions. She’s wonderful. Had Anna not been so easy to like, the entire film would have fallen apart.
Ok, but wait a second, what about Ryan? Ryan’s just, kind of, there. He has a job, I think it’s a regular 9-5 with presentations and team meetings. But Ryan isn’t very interesting—he isn’t very anything at all. The guy lacks any modicum of personality. I kept wondering why Jeremy Allen White was even in Fingernails. Ryan is a thankless role. He’s bland and has little to do on screen. But that’s intentional. You would never even notice Ryan if White wasn’t cast. The point is, we are supposed to see that Ryan is the vanilla-est of vanillas, but he’s also mostly sweet, and he looks like a not-stressed version of Carmy (White’s character on The Bear), so surely this relationship is worth fighting for.
I thought the ending dragged a little bit, but this is a love story, so there are interesting heart-to-hearts, plus some really ridiculous acts to keep love alive. If there’s one criticism I have of the film, it’s that we don’t see any queer couples actively participating in the program—there’s only one gay couple who have one scene. I think we should have seen queer couples play an active role in either the social or professional settings.
Fingernails is a weird, quiet little love story that will win you over with its moments of levity and the chemistry between its lead pair. It makes you wonder how much goes into making a relationship successful. The science-fiction element adds a layer of intrigue, but it only works because we live in a time where AI is threatening our quality of life, so the thought of it dictating and hampering our emotional connections is equally believable and scary.
I loved how easily I got lost in the world of Fingernails. How much I liked watching the characters, and especially how hard I laughed. Despite some hairy scenes involving fingernails (hence the title, but don’t worry, it’s not gory), this is a surprisingly comfortable watch.
