Emma Peeters ( Nicole Palo, 2018): Canada | Belgium

Reviewed by Helios Miller. Viewed at the 2019 Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Emma Peeters is a charming and human comedy wrapped around the dark plot of suicide. In the end as I think of this film it’s the small things that stuck to me. Little winces and twitches, subtle physical comedy, and it’s quick genre breaks, as they jump from black and white melodrama to musical in a blink. This was a very satisfying and refreshing comedy.

Our protagonist, Emma Peeters (played by the wonderful Monia Chokri), is a persistent and focused actor trying to catch a break, but when she decides that she is past her prime and without any hope of success, she switches her energy to a new enderve, suicide. While this could easily be grim, as we walk through Paris alongside Emma as she plans her funeral arrangements, tries to give away her cat and worldly possessions, you can’t help realise that you’re having a great time and laughing a little more than you thought.

The writer and director, Nicole Palo, flexes some strong comedic skills, with tight dialogue and quick pacing that won’t leave you hanging on any jokes too long. It’s refreshing to see the smart writing and more subtle physical comedy that mainstream american comedies lack. While many of our film instead insist on have actors riffing improvised lines and editing a story around it, Nicole Palo’s joke are consistent with the films grand narrative, never taking you out of the film.

Watching this film you’re likely to see similar patterns of a classic epiphany movie, think Yes Man, Office Space, or The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, however so not to glorify suicide the film can jump tones quickly. While Emma is ironically given new life after her decision to commit suicide, she faces the grim reality of death at each turn. However, as I’d like to believe this film knew what it wanted to be, it’s story threads are left not as taut as they should be in the end.

While it’s core story may have it’s issues, Emma Peeters’ good moments shin making a whole film worth while. If you’re tired of seeing the depressing documentaries and melodramatic soup that film fests invite, this should be a nice break.