Set in an alternate reality, Fingernails tells of a world where cellphones don’t exist but love-matching machines are able to confirm whether two people are compatible by ripping off a fingernail and placing it into the machine. Looking for confirmation, Ryan and Anna have passed the fingernails test and obtained a certificate stating their true love for each other. However, Anna, after many years together, doubts the accuracy of their test. As a result, Anna soon joins the Duncan-run Love Institute, where they not only conduct the fingernails tests for couples but also teach them how to make their relationships stronger.
Before the important test, Anna collaborates with the knowledgeable and lovable Amir to guide couples through tasks that promote love. Together, they do their work, and Anna begins to question whether Amir might actually be her true love and whether her intuition matters more than the outcomes of the machine.
The divorce rate has considerably decreased in this fictional world as a result of individuals blindly relying on a test created by Duncan, the founder of the Love Institute, which evaluates the worth of their relationships. Couples frequently break up immediately after receiving negative test results because they are unwilling to focus their attention on anything other than a specific connection. While both the main characters gradually come to realize this, the film explores this weird world where individuals frequently trust tests.
Fingernails does a good job of fusing elements of romance with pseudo-science fiction, and by recreating the subdued tone of the primary love story, its purposely uninteresting visuals add to its peculiar mood.
Fingernails is playing at TIFF ’23. For more information, click here.
