Darkest Miriam

So much of what I love in film - the cinematography, writing, directing, acting, music - all are excellent. As well, I was so pleased to see Britt Lower, Tom Mercier and the rest of the cast showcased with such expertise and sensitivity. At times, while watching it, I felt as though I were in a dream.

The weaving together of the music, opera and "poems" was magical.

Since seeing it, I have learned that it was a novel titled "The Incident Report" and now I want to read it. This a movie that will stay with me for a long time. Thanks to everyone involved in its creation. I look forward to more from all of you.

It's a Canadian character drama set in the summer of 2024 in and around a small public library branch in Toronto, Ontario. Miriam Gordon (Britt Lower) is a 40-ish lonely single woman grieving the death of her father, who suffered from bibliomania. Her co-workers include Susu (Sook-Yin Lee) and her boss, Irene (Jean Yoon). We also meet regular idiosyncratic patrons like the Suitcase Man (Clyde Whitham) and the Unusually Pale Female (Susannah Hoffmann).

We see Miriam in her apartment, at work, and eating her lunch outside in a public space, where she meets Janko Priajtilj (Tom Mercier), a somewhat more outgoing Slovenian taxi driver who eats his lunch in the same space. She connects with Janko, and a relationship follows. The film's unexpected ending allows time for reflection on fathers. The film's title comes from Janko's observations about Miriam.

Britt Lower's Miriam carries this 90-minute film. A sensitively written script that includes the realities of a modern public library--complete with humor mixed with darker realities. "Darkest Miriam" could have tried to go deeper, but chose not to. We learn less about Janko than we would like, and none of the other characters have real depth. Thus, "Darkest Miriam" is entertaining but not profound.

Watch this when you are prepared to fall into it. Not while you are distracted with your phone, or pausing every 10 minutes to do something else. You need to enter this world to appreciate the movements within it. Investing in the first half hour is rewarded with a really touching and romantic love story. This film is not meant to unroll at the pace of an episode of Severance.

I actually had this funny thought halfway through: this is a modern dramatic sister film to Party Girl (1995) starring Parker Posey. Young librarian dealing with a cavalcade of odd patrons, alone and unsatisfied until she meets a sexy and severely sincere Levantine man who takes her out of her comfortable misery and into love.

The opening scenes of 'Darkest Miriam' depict a Toronto librarian going about her domestic routines and taking care of some quirky bookish business at work. It also shows how she's disengaged from the world due to grief over the recent loss of her father, while repeated references to the opera Rigoletto imply the deceased man may have been over-protective of his daughter. At the same time, several enigmatic and somewhat sinister notes left in the library suggest Miriam may have a stalker.

The narrative builds slowly as Miriam begins to broaden her experience of life after meeting Janko, a Slovenian who drives a taxi to subsidize his artistic aspirations. Britt Lower and Tom Mercier are naturalistic and convincing in the lead roles, providing Miriam and Janko with sympathetic traits and making their relationship credible. It's hard to predict where the story is headed as the proceedings are observed through largely static camerawork and beautifully composed images. In the end it takes a poignant turn with the directing, screenwriting, acting and cinematography combining to give director Naomi Jaye's film the sensibility of a visual poem.

Wispy librarian sighting. Britt Lower, she of "Severance" fame, is delightfully impish as the dutiful book filer at the local branch. Much like any branch, it is full of quirky characters that make this their daily respite. Miriam is all shushy business, sorting returns, cleaning messes, reading to kids, recording incident reports - usually with a "no action taken" ending on her part. Diligent, methodical, slow paced, routine work this.

Based on the book "The Incident Report", which is extremely dark, and consists solely of a collection of these reports, the film version posits an actual plot line, with characters, dialogue and emotion. And music.

Lower is perfect as the soft-spoken worker who belies her rather pedantic existence. There is more to Miriam than meets the eye, and though we are graced with a lovely relationship detour, there remains a thick fog at the heart of our heroine. With a series of threatening, anonymous letters, and a Rigoletto angle, the library days turn melodramatic, and we have movement.

Filmed with a beautiful bluey green evening hue, the non-library moments play as a separate world of intrigue. Miriam's escape. Miriam's darkest escape. It is a lovely thing, understated, moody, shadowy and full of sundown possibilities.

The movie's climax veer is sudden and shaking, and thoughtfully mysterious. Probably infuriating to some, but discussion fodder to most. That is a good thing. A very good thing.

• hipCRANK.