Written by Andreas Babiolakis

Warning: The following review is of a film that is part of TIFF 2023 and may contain spoilers for Fingernails. Reader discretion is advised.

“Do you think this red light will last forever?” asks Amir while riding in a car with Fingernails protagonist Anna. It seems like a normal question regarding the eternity that some traffic lights can take, but this line takes on a whole new meaning in Christos Nikou’s latest feature film. The entire film is full of red and blue imagery, representing both love and loneliness. Anna is played by Jessie Buckley whose hair is redder than usual in this film. Her partner is played by The Bear lead Jeremy Allen White, whose eyes are so blue that they are almost white. It is implied from the get-go that their relationship is on its way out if Anna is the only person who is committed to this couple. However, that also isn’t the case. In Fingernails, you can find out scientifically whether you are in love with your partner or not. Both people have a fingernail ripped out (hence the name), and these nails get studied via a heavy-duty machine. You can get three results based on both nails: one hundred percent compatibility, zero percent chemistry, or a glaring fifty percent. The thing is the machine cannot differentiate whose nail is whose, so the fifty percent result is the worst because not only is one sole person in love while the other isn’t but it’s impossible to tell who the person in love actually is.

This is troubling when you can act like you are in love and believe that you are, but the machine will state otherwise; additionally, in a cold relationship like Ryan (White) and Anna’s, they can still both match with one hundred percent results. Nonetheless, Anna feels like her life is stuck in a loveless routine (while Ryan most likely loves the certainty of his daily activities, particularly spending time with Anna when they’re both home) and wants something more. She is a qualified teacher but she opts to work in one of these love institutes that perform tests and exercises — the latter involving activities with couples to determine whether they want to go through with the final test or not. She doesn’t tell Ryan right away, because she doesn’t think he will be supportive; he detests the idea of testing again to not spoil the perfect test results they both got three years prior via a huge risk (let’s face it: they both feel like they are falling out of love). At this institute, she has to shadow Amir (played by Riz Ahmed) who is one of the best workers here. As she learns more about what constitutes love through Amir’s teachings, Anna learns that she may actually be falling in love with her co-worker. There’s only one way to tell, of course.

Fingernails is beautiful for most of its duration. I know that there have been complaints about how cold the film feels, but I think this strengthens the point of the film. Love is hard to feel. A lot of the time it is extracted from the work put in. Love isn’t just what you sense but it is what you create because you care about another person. While the results are definitive, Fingernails still encourages more abstract depictions of love. I found the film fascinating for the majority of its runtime and was spellbound as to where it would go next, particularly because of the depictions of devotion, existential isolation, and yearning. Of its two-hour runtime, I felt glued to the screen for three-quarters of it. I needed to know where the film would go, as it was setting itself up for a major payoff. It already was ticking off so many boxes it created for itself (like the paradox of being caught with a fifty percent test result, or the murkiness of the daily exercises and how they can actually help couples). Fingernails was odd but more along the lines of Spike Jonze’s Her instead of something by Yorgos Lanthimos, whom Nikou has worked with in the past as an assistant director.

Then the final scene happens and I feel like it strips so much away from what was built before it. Without giving too much away, it is agreed upon that test results are just test results and that people can carve their own path should they desire. The dooming nature of what came before this final scene completely falls apart: Why has society agreed to take these tests if they didn’t matter that much at all? Additionally, the conclusion is wrapped up far too hastily as to not truly consider some of the other characters that are involved; just because Ryan has been neglected, doesn’t mean we as viewers don’t care about what happens to him. For a film that was building such a textured, nuanced reality, the conclusion to Fingernails is far too rushed and carefree. It’s not that I completely disagree with what happens since there’s something important being said about how people are told how to feel or that the complexities of love are taught to us as opposed to being found via our own discoveries. I just wasn’t in love with how the ending was delivered. Fingernails could have been the sci-fi romance of recent memory, but instead, it will likely be a fascinating evening that you may move on from.

There are still many things worthwhile here. There’s a mood that Fingernails possesses where you aren’t exactly sure what to feel and that adds to the dread of hopelessness. As stated before, many things are red and blue but not in the ways that Blue Valentine or Krzysztof Kieślowski would implement them. Here, red and blue are everywhere so we never feel like we are falling in love or getting depressed. We’re caught in the middle and trying to process what Fingernails is getting at. The acting is quite strong for a film that vows to be as cold as it is; you really do get the sense of chemistry and inevitability between actors here. The rare hints of gore here (the actual ripping off of fingernails) never feels excessive but instead are presented as acts of sacrifice to a loved one as a gamble to validate the feelings two people experience; spotting that love isn’t actually there is heartbreaking after these trials. For the most part, Fingernails is a sublime motion picture. I just wish it stuck its landing: it could have been a highlight of the year if it didn’t force itself to topple over.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.