She Came To Me – Berlinale 2023 (Film Review)

Flattering attendees with its passionate depictions of contemporary love, The 73rd Berlinale officially opened its Golden-Bear gates with Rebecca Miller's She Came To Me. Her film is both subversive and seductive; a screwball comedy that offers more than what initially meets the eye. Miller dissects all essential power-roles in our social-media dependent society. To combat dimensionless archetypes, her narrative investigates the authentic root behind one of the most pressing questions of our laborious era. With keen prudence, Miller asks her viewer an important central thesis:  

What does it mean to love someone in the 21st century? 

Her answer is more complex than a clear-cut answer, as each of her presented love stories interrogates her charming characters with passionate grace & intelligence. The film's subject matter dissects the American zeitgeist through an intimate micro-lens. Miller's avid anthropological interests extend past her jive homages. Conversations on class, consent, judicial malpractice, media consumption & addiction, abuses of power, faith, conservatism, immigration, and even the hyper-fetishisation of the artist's muse are included in Miller's carefully baked delicacy. There is a deliberate attempt to tackle our present world-issues with compassion and punctual critical analysis. As a result, the situational drama at the crux of the film's quintessential second-act provides an exhilarating intermezzo. 

Within the aforementioned thirty minute time-block, Miller weaponises her strong character-writing. She deliberately places her protagonists in cringe-worthy and authentically human conflicts. The characters at the crux of her bold situations amplify the intensity of the film's narrative, with their inevitable quests for romantic resolution. Miller's screenwriting is culturally significant, as the film mirrors the present-dangers of our Generation Z era — with ample realism. The sole detractor of Miller's charming rom-com is the looming cloud over the film's opening and closing acts. Whilst her preliminary drama is comforting and playfully droll, She Came To Me never aims to go beyond the limitations of its inciting writers-block dilemma. For a film keen at dismantling stereotypes associated with its languid sub-genre, Miller fails to reach the same dramatic heights of her exceptional second-act. The tie-ins between the intertwined narratives are poorly defined in its humorous introduction; a sappy crescendo which unexpectedly escalates to a resounding peak in entertainment and pace. 

For its loving portrait of a city under siege by its black cloud of love-oriented misconceptions, Rebecca Miller's return to the Berlinale is star-studded and beautifully directed. She Came To Me is an invigorating cinematic odyssey; a metropolitan love-letter which respectfully lulls its viewer into a new world of interconnectivity. Anything can happen in the big city. All you have to do is step outside. You might just find your own answer to Miller's idiosyncratic thesis. 

She Came To Me premiered in the Berlinale Special Gala section as part of the 73rd Berlin Film Festival. Universal Studios will release the film in the coming months.