More a surreal allegory than a realistic narrative, 'The Truth about Emanuel' portrays how two women deal with loss. One of them is Emanuel, an abrasive seventeen-year-old whose mother had died at her birth, who becomes increasingly alienated after her father's remarriage. The other is Linda, who moves into the next-door house with a new-born infant. After Emanuel impulsively offers babysitting services to her neighbor, she soon learns the older woman is more troubled than appearances would indicate.
Emanuel and Linda supposedly establish a bond which gives them an opportunity to heal their respective traumas, but their relationship isn't very convincing, and the stylized nature of the film also chokes off any real connection to the characters. Although there's some competent acting and luminous cinematography, most of the time everything is too self-consciously strange and slow. Linda and Emanuel are supposed to be oddball personalities, but they're actually rather dull, and the obligatory big revelation doesn't contain any surprises. The resolution of their issues is both glib and implausible, and as a result, the climactic scenes play out without much emotional impact.
Emanuel and Linda supposedly establish a bond which gives them an opportunity to heal their respective traumas, but their relationship isn't very convincing, and the stylized nature of the film also chokes off any real connection to the characters. Although there's some competent acting and luminous cinematography, most of the time everything is too self-consciously strange and slow. Linda and Emanuel are supposed to be oddball personalities, but they're actually rather dull, and the obligatory big revelation doesn't contain any surprises. The resolution of their issues is both glib and implausible, and as a result, the climactic scenes play out without much emotional impact.