French filmmaker Audrey Diwan made a splash in 2021 for her Golden Lion-winning abortion drama “Happening.” It was such an astounding second feature that everyone in the jury was unanimous in their praise for the filmmaker’s exceptional handling of a subject that still plagues us. The 1963 set film featured a breakout performance by Anamaria Vartolomei and instantly put Diwan on the map. So, it especially comes as a humongous disappointment that her new film “Emmanuelle,” starring the always dependable Noémie Merlant, is a load of hot garbage.
Based on the 1967 novel of the same name, which was turned into a successful series of films, the new reworking is set almost entirely in a luxury hotel in Hong Kong. Merlant stars as the titular character who arrives at the property as a quality controller, but is secretly looking for sexual adventures that completely supersede the disciplined work she is supposed to do.
The hotel in question is run by Margot (Naomi Watts), a character so weary and interchangeable that it could be played by a body double and you wouldn’t notice. Merlant’s character, on the other hand, is given such weirdly written dialogues that it often feels like the brilliant French actor was never interested in it whatsoever. The robot-like screen act cannot be dismissed as a one-off, because a couple of great on-paper characters like the mysterious Kei (Will Sharpe) or Zelda (Chacha Huang) are so cardboard-like that the glittering landscape and the gorgeous cinematography cannot save them either.
This brings me back to the idea with which the film originates. Diwan, a competent filmmaker, aimed to highlight how women in workplaces are often pitted against each other, making it easier for those uncomfortable with seeing a powerful woman in the lead. However, this seed of an idea is so vehemently put into the back burner that it never comes off as anything that needs your attention. The rest of it is cushioned with vignettes of Emmaenuelle experimenting with her sexuality – she often sways around the hotel in designer clothes, trying to understand what power her beauty and presence hold.
However, even these sequences are pale, especially considering we are supposed to be enchanted by them. The eroticism is nothing but a plot point, and oftentimes, the desire that Emmanuelle feels for a person doesn’t come out as intended. The reason could be attributed to the lack of anything substantial being provided to this character who aimlessly walks the corridors of loneliness, often mistaking a mere glance for attraction. It’s a confusing state of being, but the filmmaker fails to show these things to us.
Most of the film is spent on painting this character in such broad strokes that even when we see her up close and skin deep, we see nothing of value. If this was intended as a character sketch, by the time the film ends with an anti-climactic breakthrough of sorts, we know Emmanuelle as little as we knew her from the first frame. If this was intended as a tantalizing yarn for seekers of the softcore pulpiness of the original French series, the film doesn’t just lag in sexiness, it lags in any sense of foundation to be seen as one.
Someone as formidable as Noémie Merlant (initially the film was supposed to star Lea Seydoux) fails to create something truly memorable out of Emmanuelle. Naomi Watts and Will Sharpe are also so underutilized that it feels like a crime having them in the film. But most of all, the film fails due to Diwan’s poor writing and direction, which feels laborious and inconsequential, making this a disappointment of epic proportions. Even Neon did not believe in the final product that was rejected from both Cannes and Venice. The result was a digital release with little to no fanfare.
![Waiting for the Barbarians [2020] Review: Not Worth The Wait](https://www.highonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Waiting-for-the-Barbarians-Review-High-On-Films-1-768x512.jpg)
