Sebastien Lelio's film 'Gloria' tells the story of a middle-aged divorcée, increasingly feeling herself a bit part in other people's lives. So she decides to go dating, and does so with gusto, rediscovers her sexual side, and after eventually being let down by a man, recovers her zim by exacting a revenge. The film has strengths: showing the sex life of someone who doesn't look like a movie star, and nicely capturing the its protagonist's lust for life made fragile by her underlying fears of old age and redundancy. And yet ultimately there's not a lot of significance here. It never feels as if Gloria's new partner is ever going to be more than a bit of fun for her; when it turns out to be less fun than she expected, that's a shame, but hardly a tragedy. There's certainly a measure of truth in the story; but a bit more story in the story wouldn't have hurt.
Review of Gloria
