The film follows the titular psychiatrist (Virginie Efira) who has decided to end her practice to author a book while one of the few patients she has is an actress embroiled in an affair with her co-star where Sibyl becomes enamored with her to the point that the woman becomes an inspiration to her novel. It is a film that explores the life of a woman who is trying to restart her writing career as she ended her psychiatry practice while retaining a few patients including this up-and-coming actress who has found herself in an affair with her co-star just as she’s about to go to Italy to make a film that she’s starring in. The film’s screenplay by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari has an offbeat narrative as it relates to Sibyl who is trying to write a book yet she often looks back at elements of her own past including a tumultuous relationship with her former flame Gabriel (Niels Schneider) whom she hadn’t seen in years while she cares for their daughter Selma (Jeanne Arra-Bellanger) with her husband Etienne (Paul Hamy) whom she shares another daughter with him in Livia (Liv Harari).
The script plays into Sibyl’s own struggles in writing while thinking about her past as her meeting with the actress Margot Vasilis (Adele Exarchopoulos) would give her ideas with her book though her mentor/shrink Dr. Katz (Arthur Harari) feels that it is a bad idea as well as being unethical in her profession. Sibyl would get calls from Margot who starts to unravel emotionally and mentally where Sibyl reluctantly travels to the island of Stromboli to be onset to help Margot who is having an affair with co-star in Igor Maleski (Gaspard Ulliel) although he is married to the film’s director Mikaela “Mika” Sanders (Sandra Huller). Sibyl’s presence would only add more chaos to the production where Mika would unravel at one point where Sibyl ponders if she has gone too far in the lives of people while also dealing with those who are in her life such as her husband, children, and sister Edith (Laure Calamy).
Triet’s direction is stylish for not just its unconventional narrative but also in the fact that it is set in Paris with one key sequence set in the Italian volcano island of Stromboli and its nearby locations. Triet opens the film where Sibyl talks to a colleague about ending her practice at a sushi restaurant as it sets the stage for the messiness that is to occur in the film. While there are some wide shots that Triet uses to play into the locations, much of the Triet’s direction emphasizes on close-ups and medium shots as it plays into the way characters interact with one another including some of the flashbacks in Sibyl’s life. Notably in scenes where she is with Gabriel as they are life-long friends though their romantic and sexual relationship would eventually become troubled with Edith expressing concern since Sibyl does not say much about the death of their mother. Triet also creates these unique compositions that also has this sense of repetition in the way the actors are framed as it play into Sibyl’s own sense of isolation. Even as Triet highlight a woman becoming obsessed with her new patient as the only other patient she has is a child in Daniel (Adrien Bellemare) whom she plays board games with to get him to talk.
Triet would also play into the chaos that goes in the making of a film once Sibyl arrives to Italy where she is there to help Margot who has become depressed and despondent. Even to the point where she would only listen to Sibyl who would be on a set to direct Margot that only adds the turmoil in the production. The film’s third act does not just play into Sibyl going too far into her involvement during a film shoot where Mika unravels but also an aftermath that highlights Sibyl coming to terms with her presence in an already combustible situation. Notably as she returns to France where the past would return as her obsession in creating a book about Margot would also cost her own sanity and morality. Triet does maintain this tone that is messy in its offbeat narrative, yet it works to play into a woman who realized she had gone too far in her obsession. Overall, Triet crafts a gripping and rapturous film about a woman finding a muse for her novel only to be caught up in that woman’s life and her own tumultuous past.
Cinematographer Simon Beaufils does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its low-key approach to lighting for many of the film’s nighttime interior scenes as well as some natural lighting for the daytime interior/exterior scenes. Editor Laurent Senechal does excellent work with the editing in the usage of straight rhythmic cuts to play into the drama and suspense as well as a few jump cuts to play into some of the film’s minimal humor. Production designer Toma Baqueni does amazing work with the look of Sibyl’s apartment that she lives with her family as well as her office where she meets with remaining patients she has and the villa she would stay in Italy. Costume designer Virginie Montel does fantastic work with the costumes with the women often wearing stylish clothing as well as some casual clothing while Igor would also wear some stylish and expensive clothing.
Makeup artist Sandra Campisi does terrific work with the makeup as it is minimal work into the look of the characters in the way they would appear in a film. Special effects supervisor Guy Monbillard and visual effects supervisor Hugues Namur do nice work with the film’s minimal effects for a few scenes at Stromboli as well as scenes of the film within a film. Sound editor Ingrid Simon does superb work with the sound in the way a location sounds up-close and from afar as well as the way music sounds during a film shoot. Music supervisor Thibault Deboaisne creates a fun music soundtrack that mixes all kinds of music in contributions from Nina Simone, the Raconteurs, Benoit Daniel, The Les Humphrie Singers, Roy Orbison, and some classical pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Vivaldi.
The casting by Cynthia Arra and Laure Ballarin is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Aurelien Bellanger as an editor for Sibyl’s book, Lorenzo Lefebvre as the assistant director Galotin, Jeanne Arra-Bellanger and Liv Harari as Sibyl’s daughters in Selma and Livia respectively, and Adrien Bellemare as a young patient of Sibyl in Daniel as a child who loves to play board games as a way to talk about his problems. Arthur Harari is superb as Sibyl’s psychiatrist/mentor Dr. Katz who believes that Sibyl is putting herself in danger in involving herself with Margot’s life. Paul Hamy is terrific as Sibyl’s husband Etienne as a house-husband who stays home to watch over the children while coping with her distant behavior. Laure Calamy is fantastic as Sibyl’s sister Edith who also helps Etienne in taking care of Sibyl’s kids as she is someone still coping with the death of their mother as well as her own issues towards Sibyl including her past relationship with Gabriel.
Niels Schneider is excellent as Sibyl’s former flame Gabriel as he is seen in flashbacks as someone who was passionately in love with her only to feel slighted over her choice of career over their happiness where he would not see her again for years. Sandra Huller is brilliant as Mika as a film director trying to make a film with her husband Igor and Margot as she deals with the chaos in shooting as well as Margot’s behavior as she would become unhinged by Sibyl’s presence leading to a breakdown during a shoot. Gaspard Ulliel is amazing as Igor as a film star whom Margot is sleeping with even though he is married to the film’s director they are working on as he is charming but also is willing to get his way where he would put Sibyl into a moral quandary.
Adele Exarchopoulos is incredible as Margot Vasilis as a young actress about to get her break as she finds herself in an affair with Igor that would result in a lot of complicated issues where Exarchopoulos displays a sense of despair and angst of a woman who needs help with her own issues. Finally, there’s Virginie Efira in a phenomenal performance as the titular character as a psychiatrist who decided to end her practice, save for a few clients, to return to writing where she finds inspiration through Margot although finds herself becoming more involved with Margot’s tumultuous life where she is also forced to deal with the chaos in her own past. Efira and Exarchopoulos are the major highlights of the film in terms of the way they deal with themselves as well as their need for each other with the latter being this force of nature in the film’s second half while the former maintains this strong front only to eventually unravel where the two together bring out the best in each other.
Sibyl is a sensational film by Justine Triet as it features great performances from both Virginie Efira and Adele Exarchopoulos. Along with its supporting cast, gorgeous visuals, a wondrous music soundtrack, and its study of obsession and morality. It is a film that is not afraid to be flawed in its presentation of its characters as well as displaying what a woman will do to get inspiration for her novel only to realize own unethical decisions that would force her to deal with her own past. In the end, Sibyl is a phenomenal film by Justine Triet.
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