Fingernails is a gentler movie than one might guess from its premise. In its early moments, it seems poised to take one of two swerves, toward either the dark, skewering absurdism of The Lobster or the quirky, heartfelt surrealism of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Both projects can be felt at times, the latter especially, but director Christos Nikou is interested in a more grounded approach to exploring the lofty concepts of love and relationships. Keeping us close to the film’s talented cast is a decided strength of this, and the performances add nuance to a largely straightforward viewing experience. But it’s hard not to wish Fingernails had grander designs. It shows just enough of its full potential to leave us wanting to see those ideas expressed more fully.
This film’s title derives from its touch of science fiction, positing a world in which a machine can determine whether a couple is truly in love by analyzing one fingernail each. From what we gather, this little invention reshaped society in a short amount of time; over 80 percent of couples received negative results. Anna (Jessie Buckley) is one of the lucky ones — she and Ryan (Jeremy Allen White) tested positive years ago. But something is clearly giving her pause lately. Without telling Ryan, she takes a job at an institute that not only administers the tests, but takes couples through a series of exercises designed to bring them closer together first. There, she meets Amir (Riz Ahmed), and when a connection develops between them, she starts to question the relationship that’s supposed to be a certainty.
A viewer with any genre familiarity will flash-forward to many ways this movie could go as they watch. Should we be questioning the validity of this test and rooting for Anna and Amir to defy the system, “Hang the DJ”-style? Is the test always right, setting Anna up to learn the hard way? Can results change over time, and love being true might not mean a happy ever after? Fingernails moves toward its answer without any urgency. Nikou lets us sit with the questions, and positions his actors as the only way to get any answers. Buckley, Ahmed, and White are all excitingly talented performers, and this film asks them to be pseudo-cyphers, laced with possibility. The people of this world are hyper-aware that the ways we have traditionally read love in someone’s behavior failed them — even if the cast’s expressions seem easy to decipher, they hold them a moment too long, reminding us we’re always guessing at the emotional truth underneath. It is they, and Buckley especially, who make this film as enjoyable to watch as it is.
It should be more so. Flashes of satire peek through in the institute’s reliance on clichés, and there is some dramatic intrigue in the central relationships, but the overall interrogation of love is a touch too timid. The formal stability of Fingernails suggests a more durable social order than an emotionally genuine exploration of this premise (that is, not played for comedy or commentary) would likely require. I cannot help but think the ideal analogue is The Leftovers, which teases out the many, seismic consequences, both personal and social, of 2 percent of the world’s population suddenly and inexplicably disappearing. This love test has similarly overturned a central tenet of human existence, and Nikou’s movie does seem to understand that everything would be reordered around this new truth. It may flirt with satire, but it aspires to the more sincere perspective, rooted in human emotion, that made the aforementioned HBO series so great. This script just doesn’t dig deep enough.
The film’s most interesting idea doesn’t actually involve any couples. The institute Anna joins is staffed by people who are, in some way or another, unsatisfied with their love lives. Its founder, played with weary optimism by Luke Wilson, had a negative result dissolve his marriage, but he speaks of his work with the faith of someone who knows they are furthering the greater good. He believes in love despite the proven, brutal odds, and so do Anna and Amir. This test, meant to bring clarity, has left people understanding love even less, but romantics endure; these characters are drawn to this job out of a desire to be around the genuine article. Mine that vein, perhaps with the time and scope of a series, and you’d have something truly great.
Fingernails released in limited theaters October 27 and is now available to stream on Apple TV+. The film is 113 minutes long and is rated R for language.
