A twentysomething girl finds herself at a crossroads after failing conspicuously as a runner on a film production. She returns home to Strasbourg, and throws herself into the diversionary activity of converting her grandmother’s bathroom to an invalid-friendly walk-in shower. It’s hard to imagine a more unpromising premise. And yet this debut feature from French director Rachel Lang is an absolute treat. It combines genuine laugh-out-loud moments with a deftly handled slow reveal of the bruises left by Ana’s (Salomé Richard) past life and loves.
The structure is episodic, like a scrapbook of moments from Ana’s summer. Some are fleeting – we get an eloquently unappetising glimpse of a single shot of peas and carrots smothered in tomato ketchup. Others, like the awkward friendship between Ana and Gregoire, the hardware store clerk who offers to help with the bathroom remodelling, unfold throughout the film. Lang has a delightfully off-kilter approach that renders familiar scenes and plot points suddenly fresh. I look forward to seeing more of it.
