'Ma Belle, My Beauty' Review
NR
Runtime: 1 Hr and 35 Minutes
Production Companies: EFI Productions
Distributor: Good Deed Entertainment
Director: Marion Hill
Writer: Marion Hill
Cast: Idella Johnson, Hannah Pepper, Lucien Guignard, Sivan Noam, Shimon Morris,
Release Date: August 20, 2021
Theatrical
Newlywed musicians Bertie and Fred are adjusting to their new life in the beautiful countryside of France. It’s an easy transition for Fred, the son of French and Spanish parents, but New Orleans native Bertie grapples with a nagging depression that is affecting her singing. Lane — the quirky ex who disappeared from their three-way relationship years ago — suddenly shows up for a surprise visit, bringing new energy and baggage of her own.
If there’s anything that Ma Belle, My Beauty succeeds at doing, it’s selling you the beauty of France. It will make you want to take a summer vacation in France when their lockdown finally lifts. Writer-director Marion Hill showcases the city’s charm, from the landscape shots in the countryside to the town areas. Its seductive and alluring pull works as a great contrast to the messy relationship between Bertie and her ex-third, Lane. Unlike other films centered around vacation in a beautiful setting, this one has an actual story. However, it’s nowhere close to being an excuse for actors to go on vacation, shoot a home video, then try to make a movie on the fly while going, “Look at this setting! Isn't it so damn pretty? You should go.” What I’m trying to say is, it’s not like a Terrence Malick movie.
Polyamorous relationships are hardly explored in films. Seriously, the majority of romance features focus on monogamous relationships where even the concept of having multiple partners is looked down upon; it’s often used as a twist/turning point or some other plot device. While Ma Belle, My Beauty brings visibility to the romantic practice in various forms — even though the narrative is set on an ex-poly couple — its shortcomings mostly lie within the characters and their selfish behavior.
I understand that love is messy and sometimes the decisions we make are either in the best interest of others or ourselves for the benefit of others. Every action the characters take in this film is solely for their own benefit. These characters have to be the most selfish group of people ever caught up in a love triangle on film. The plotline alone is founded on a selfish ulterior motive that results in you feeling bad for only one person. Bertie is a vocalist and her husband Fred, who is in a band, is about to go on tour. Bertie has been down in the dumps since her mother’s recent passing, so Fred invites their ex-third Lane (who she hasn’t spoken to in over two years and didn’t show up to their wedding) to come over and see if her surprise appearance will be enough to lift her depression so they can travel on tour together. It’s a story about messy love, but the entire ensemble (Fred, Bertie, and Lane) is so insufferably shallow that I couldn’t find myself caring about their conflict of closure — or lack thereof. I felt bad for Bertie because she was the only Black woman dealing with the white love triangle bullshit you’d see in a bad [hetero] rom-com, but even then all the unspoken tension between her and Lane could’ve been addressed much earlier so these adults could act like adults. I didn’t feel any sort of genuine depiction/sense of love between any of the parties. Not between Bertie and Fred nor Bertie and Lane. Yes, there’s sexual tension between the latter but it comes after Lane just does her thing to make Bertie jealous.
There are brief moments of awkward hilarity and French gay hijinks, but many of the story elements are things that I’ve seen in other similar films similar. There’s a scene where Lane hooks up with a hot Isreali ex-soldier with a dope car and she’s having loud sex while Fred and Bertie are in the next room just… hearing it. You know, it’s funny on paper but it’s also so damn familiar and Hill doesn’t do anything special to give the material some heft. At least the gays get to feel a little bit more seen, but I genuinely did not feel any hint of romance, love, or resonance with any of the characters, resulting in me not resonating with the film itself. Props to her for doing some good strap representation, though. For what it’s worth, the performances by the ensemble cast is pretty good despite the lackluster characters they portrayed. Idella Johnson is a good singer with a phenomenal voice and she displays enough emotional range to be a sympathetic character. The cast had good screen presence and generated enough charm for me to be engaged all the way through, but apart from that… meh. I wish I cared more, but it was so darn difficult to do so.
Ma Belle, My Beauty isn’t bad and I think there will be some LGBT audiences who can get something nuanced out of it, but I don't see myself rating it higher than two stars. I'd like to see more stories about poly relationships and bring some normalization to the romantic practice in film. You can show that it’s completely conventional by depicting an unconventional drama or romance, but this one in particular is about a post-poly relationship that became monogamous and everyone is shallow with their selfish needs and gains… and man, I couldn’t care less about it.
