TIFF ’24 Review: ‘Do I Know You From Somewhere?’ explores the paths not taken
‘Do I Know You From Somewhere?’ follows a couple as mysterious things happen on their anniversary, pointing to a potentially different life for each of them.
While the reasons relationships end may be similar, no breakup is the same. In some cases, everyone comes to a mutual agreement to calmly go their separate ways, but how their paths diverge will be dependent on the individual. Alternatively, a relationship’s conclusion can be heated and crushing for one or both parties involved. Then there’s the potential sadness, the mourning of a future no longer possible and the need to accept a change in routine. In Do I Know You From Somewhere?, a couple begins to involuntarily drift apart amid mysterious occurrences.
Olive (Caroline Bell) and Benny (Ian Ottis Goff) had a classic meet-cute at a wedding. Her sister dragged her along following a depressing breakup and he was blowing his first day with the event’s catering company. Now, some time later, they’re living together and celebrating the anniversary of their impulsive first date. But the day gets off to a strange start with Olive forgetting an important detail and Benny stumbling on unfamiliar objects throughout their home. As the picture recounts the start of their relationship, there’s a tangible gap growing between them in the present. Suddenly, Olive finds Benny replaced in her life by Ada (Mallory Amirault), while he keeps inexplicably vanishing for brief periods.
The weird phenomenon dampening Olive and Benny’s special day is as confusing for them as it is for audiences. Initially, the out-of-place objects are puzzling as neither know where they’ve come from, assuming someone must be playing an unusual trick. The flashbacks of their first meeting make their connection seem fated, putting them in the right place at the right time. But then it’s revealed that perhaps Olive was intended to follow another path that evening that would have changed both their lives significantly and possibly for the better. These revelations begin to give context to the unexplained occurrences, but there’s a resigned melancholy that accompanies it.
The presentation is an appealing mix of large cinematic spaces, whether in a room filled with wedding guests or outside enjoying a pleasant nature walk, and small stage-like pieces in which the actors are spotlighted in an isolated space. The latter sets bring viewers into the intimate unravelling of Olive and Benny’s relationship as they unpack why this is happening and what it means for the future. Early on, Olive goes on a tirade about how all breakups are the same, which Benny refutes. This experience simply reaffirms that relationships are unique, no matter how long they last.
Do I Know You From Somewhere? had its world premiere in the Discovery programme at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Read other reviews from the festival.
Director: Arianna Martinez
Starring: Caroline Bell, Ian Ottis Goff and Gillian Salmon
