Fingernails: When Your Love Compatibility Depends on Your Manicure (Review)

Jessie Buckley, Jeremy Allen White and Riz Ahmed form a love triangle at the heart of a dystopian science fiction story.

Fingernails comes to Apple TV+ today. After the astonishing Applesa reflection on memory, this indie project marks the Greek director’s second solo film Christos Nikouknown for his collaborations with Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster and soon Poor Creatures) And Richard Linklater (Before Midnight). The dystopian plot invokes the influence of new technologies and the role they could play in the equation of this mysterious romantic alchemy. This involves following several structured steps to reach the final step: having the partners’ nails tested to define their compatibility.

The budding filmmaker has assembled actors in the prime of their lives and success, including Jessie Buckley (Men), who plays Anna, the main character of this love triangle and Jeremy Allen White (The Bear), who lends his features to Ryan, the young woman’s long-time partner. But that’s without taking into account the disturbing presence of Rice Ahmed (Sound of Metal), aka Amir, the instructor responsible for supervising the love compatibility tests.

“I see so many people using all these dating apps, swiping left and right while trying to find the perfect match. They’re relying on an algorithm that suggests people to them when things should be more instinctive.”has explained Christos Nikou has BFIasked about what gave him the idea for this feature film.

In Fingernails, the nail test has played a decisive role in society where the views of others count more than anything: if you haven’t tested your relationship, it’s a bad sign. Conceptual thinking in the spirit of Welcome to Gattacathe film stealthily takes over the science fiction genre to better question our times, and could easily be an episode away from the dystopian series Black Mirror.

The poisoning of society is suggested to us through a new technology that (almost) everyone trusts. The problem of the film lies in this feeling of security that a machine similar to a microwave oven would provide, and which (what’s more) malfunctions. It must be said that technology provides a framework, a decisive comfort of mind for Anna, but what do we do with all the spontaneity of an attraction?

Anna has a crush on Amir, her work colleague and this will lead her to pinch her nail to have it tested. Should we take into account the opinion of a microwave when the attraction is crystal clear? That’s the whole point of the film. Anna bites her nails as the internal procrastination is unbearable, the silences bear witness to the protagonist’s endless reflection. Anna realizes that despite her compatibility with Ryan (100%), the thirty-year-old is getting tired – she cannot fight against the spontaneity of her anthropic character. How to control sentimental evidence? The creation of Christos Nikou is an open door to introspection and tends to focus on the social pressure that can immerse in the minds of people in their thirties, generally considered old enough to marry and have children.

What emerges from this chilling dystopia is that the certainty of love would only alter our relationships and behaviors – it would amount to eradicating human instinct. Christos Nikou manages to convince us that a world littered with certainties would not be compatible with our essence. Even if the concept implies the absurdity of this non-exact science, the film approaches the theme very seriously. On this point, the connection with The Lobster is obvious. Even if Anna struggles, the (long) resistance does not hold. The young woman gives up with difficulty in Amir’s arms, even if their respective manicures do not match.

Fingernails can be seen on AppleTV+ from November 3, 2023.