Movie Review: ‘Fingernails’

Greetings again from the darkness. Certifiable love. Trust the science. Anna and Ryan are in love and they have the certification (and sore fingers) to prove it. One minor problem is that they don’t seem to have much in common, other than a love for the fatty parts of a well-cooked steak. And even this common ground leads to a certain dishonesty. Writer-director Christos Nikou and his APPLES co-writer Stavros Raptis, along with co-writer Sam Steiner, have given us a film that appears to lean heavily into science-fiction, while also poking a bit of skepticism that direction.

Most of this film didn’t work for me, however, the depth that the two lead actors, Jessie Buckley (I frequently recommend WILD ROSE, 2018) and Riz Ahmed (SOUND OF METAL, 2020, and an Oscar winner for his short film THE LONG GOODBYE, 2021), bring such an intimacy and sincerity to their scenes that we can almost overlook the absurdity of the story. And maybe that’s the point.

Anna (Ms. Buckley) has recently lost her job as a teacher, and when she lands the job she wants as a trainer at The Love Institute, she opts not to tell her husband Ryan (Jeremy Allen White, “Shameless”). The Love Institute is run by Duncan (Luke Wilson) and the mission is to test couples for scientific compatibility in a long-term relationship. This is done by pulling a fingernail from each and testing in a machine invented by Duncan (don’t worry, he is always looking to improve it). The idea is that science can take the guesswork out of relationships and put folks at ease that they found the “right” partner.

Of course, as soon as we see Anna and Amir (Mr. Ahmed) working alongside each other, we know where this is headed. The two actors are terrific together and excel at selective gazing, while maintaining professionalism. Science, chemistry, and biology all play a role here, but the thought that folks would volunteer to have their fingernails yanked out (while biting a block of wood) is ludicrous, even if the film opens by telling us fingernails often display the first symptoms of heart issues (physical not emotional). The film is evidently supposed to prove yet again that matters of romance are beyond the scope of science, even in movies.

Opens on AppleTV+ beginning November 3, 2023