Hungry Hearts

While we patiently wait for Adam Driver to become a household name, there's plenty of big screen spoils from last year's film festivals to enjoy, including While We're Young and Hungry Hearts. It opens with a misleading, endearing and hilarious meet-cute where Driver and co-star Alba Rohrwacher first fall in love trapped in a bathroom with Driver's own stench. Perhaps sly foreshadowing that their story revolves around nutrition, I didn't expect the film to focus on the 'hungry' part of its 'hearts' while I prepared for something humorous and composed. It's none of those two. While it peaks in its opening minutes, that's not to say there isn't something of worth to follow. The idea of having the diet of a child being the source of conflict between a couple is unique in cinema, but a very real concern. It does paint Rohrwacher as too much of a villain at times but the duo's impeccable performances do their characters justice and it's often heartbreaking. It's such a shame that it's incompetently shot. I get the raw intimate aesthetic, but it feels like rehearsal footage, and when it's being creative with fish eye lenses to distort Rohrwacher's figure, it feels far too on-the-nose. The misguided style holds the film back, but the performances win out.

7/10