7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A jaded psychotherapist returns to her first passion of becoming a writer.
Starring: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Virginie Efira, Gaspard Ulliel, Sandra Hüller, Laure CalamyForeign | 100% |
Drama | 56% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Considering its title and the fact that this film deals at least tangentially with mental illness and a therapist, one might be forgiven for thinking this is just the latest revisionist reboot, this time of Sybil, which, depending on your orthographic sensibilities and/or interest in Ancient Greece and those prone to prophecy, either reversed the vowel placement or got it right when compared to the title spelling of the film currently under review. Perhaps surprisingly, then, it may come as something of a shock to hear co-writer and director Justine Triet actually overtly state in an interview included on this disc as a supplement that this particular Sibyl actually owes its cinematic life to Woody Allen's 1988 opus Another Woman . In what might be thought of as the cinematic equivalent of Russian nesting dolls, while the general setup of the Allen film, along with some of its key art, might almost automatically remind some film fans of Ingmar Bergman's Persona, Allen was evidently overtly on record as stating that it was actually Bergman's Wild Strawberries which inspired the film. That's a pretty heady "lineage" any way you slice it, but one way or the other it may at least subliminally indicate that, as Alexandra Heller Nicholas mentions in the commentary track also included on this disc as a supplement, this Sibyl is a piece of almost constantly moving parts, as visually evidenced by an opening vignette featuring a so-called Kaiten-sushi restaurant where a seemingly unending series of foodstuffs on a conveyor belt passes by focal character Sibyl (Virginie Efira) as another character drones on about Sibyl's apparently rocky career as a writer.
Sibyl is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa Mini and I'm assuming the DI was finished at 2K. This is a very appealing looking transfer for the most part, and the palette is really gorgeously vivid a lot of the time, especially in some deeply burnished reds, purples and golds. A prevalence of blue is also on tap, both in costumes and props as well as some actual backgrounds once things get to a seaside locale. Fine detail is typically excellent throughout, and I'd simply recommend parsing through some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, where you can spot things like ribbing or pill on various fabrics as one indication of how precise things are. There are a couple of kind of slightly rough looking moments (see screenshot 7), and I'm wondering if a couple of establishing shots might have been sourced from stock footage, but overall this is a very impressively sharp, well detailed and colorful looking transfer.
Sibyl features either DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks. This is a pretty talk heavy enterprise, but the surround track definitely opens things up in terms of both ambient environmental effects (not necessarily limited only to outdoor material), but also a rather eclectic supply of source cues scattered throughout the soundtrack. All dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. Both optional standard English and English SDH subtitles are available.
Sibyl would almost seem to be aiming for so-called "psychological thriller" territory, but if that's the case, there's a decided lack of any real suspense or feeling of danger, unless one perceives the emotional breakdown of at least one and potentially two women to be inherently dangerous (which, again, it may very well be). And this twisty, turny, almost obsessively multilayered plot would also seem to be moving to some mind blowing M. Night Shyamalan sized twist which never really arrives. That said, Sibyl is often quite intriguing, and there's a certain sense of playfulness that Triet brings to the enterprise that may help it to elide a few bumps along the way. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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