Fantasy (2019)

Fantasy: Directed by Dashiell Demeter. With Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Andy Gates, Pancho Moler, Eleanor Goodall. A married couple attempt to improve their marriage by visiting a sex therapist who has them participate in surreal exercises designed to help with their intimacy problems.

“The art pop band Sparks (Ron and Russel Mael), recently featured in Edgar Wrightu0026#39;s documentary, The Sparks Brothers, has crafted a bizarre, surreal, and all-too-real film that explores the consequences of fame, child exploitation, male stupidity, and marriage. Itu0026#39;s a smart rarity, where the characters mostly communicate in song and nothing is safe, not even love.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHenry (Adam Driver), a successful comedian, loves opera singer, Ann (Marion Cotillard, but fame for both is a deal breaker. Youu0026#39;ve heard it all before (A Star is Born anyone?), and to some extent the disintegration of their marriage is close to a cliché, but their singing and the lack of haranguing or bitter tirades almost has you thinking they can make it. To those adoring fans on the outside, their union is perfect.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWith the entrance of their baby girl, Annette, and Annu0026#39;s exit, Henry is left to his own devices relying on others to care for her but becoming obsessive about Annetteu0026#39;s gifted voice. It doesnu0026#39;t take him long to exploit her talent around the world and for the fates to catch up with him.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDriver is particularly effective as a towering talent (his comedy act is unusually odd and bright), brooding and elusive. Although Cotillard could always carry a picture (La Vie En Rose), this one belongs to Driver, whose character is as charged as his performance.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSpecial credit must be given to the Sparks bros, who wrote the story and the music, evocative of Brian De Palmau0026#39;s Phantom of Paradise and any Sondheim, and to French director Leos Carax, whose off-center vision helps Annette be a wildly different take on the ravages of fame and the hubris of men.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSlow and eccentric for some, just quirky and insightful for others, this romance is artistically enough for anyone wanting a worthy drama that happens to be a musical.”