Deux fois vingt ans is basically a mid-life crisis caught on film

If you have a free afternoon and you don't mind a movie that feels like it is staring at itself in a mirror for way too long, you might like Deux fois vingt ans. It is definitely for the people who enjoy those old French dramas where everyone talks in hushed tones about things that don't really matter to anyone else. 🍷

If you want explosions or a plot that moves faster than a turtle, you will probably hate this. It is a movie about feelings and the sheer terror of getting a wrinkle.

The whole thing is about this woman who is 'mixed race'—though the movie handles that with the grace of a stumbling elephant—who is turning forty. Back then, I guess forty was basically considered ancient, like you should just go live in a cave or something. 👵

She keeps all these younger men around her like they are accessories. It is kind of funny because they all look so intense, like they are trying to win a staring contest with her soul.

There is this one scene where they are all in a garden and the lighting is so bright it almost washes out her face. I think they were trying to make her look younger, but it just made her look like a ghost. 👻

Jean Brunil is in this and he has this way of looking at the camera that makes me feel like I owe him money. He is very dramatic.

I kept thinking about Die Drei um Edith while watching this. Both movies have that weird energy where the woman is the center of the universe but also seems totally bored by it.

The pacing is... well, it is not great. Some scenes go on for about thirty seconds too long, especially the ones where people are just walking across rooms. 🚶‍♀️

You can tell the director really loved the way the curtains looked in the background. We spend a lot of time looking at furniture.

Annabella shows up and she is great, but she can't save the fact that the script feels like it was written on a napkin during a very sad lunch. It reminds me a little bit of the vibe in L'enfant de l'amour, but with less actual heart.

One of the younger guys has a mustache that is so thin it looks like he drew it on with a pencil right before the camera started rolling. I couldn't stop looking at it. 🥸

The movie tries to convince you that this is a huge romantic dilemma. Will she pick the right guy? Will she accept that she is actually forty?

Honestly, the 'right' guy seems just as annoying as the 'wrong' guys. They all just stand around posing.

There is a lot of sighing. So much sighing. I started counting them but I lost track around the twenty-minute mark.

It is not a bad movie, it just feels very heavy. Like a cake that didn't rise properly in the oven. 🎂

The 'mixed race' element is weirdly handled, like the movie is afraid to actually talk about it but wants you to know it is there. It feels a bit like Chantage in that way, where the social stuff is just simmering under the surface but never really boils over.

I liked the costumes, though. Everyone looks very sharp, even when they are being miserable.

There is a moment near the end where she looks at a portrait of herself and the music gets really loud for no reason. It made me jump a little bit. 🎵

I think the movie is trying to be a meditation on beauty, but it mostly just feels like a lady who needs a better hobby than hanging out with twenty-year-olds.

The crowd scenes feel a bit empty. Like they could only afford five extras so they just moved them around to different spots in the room.

One reaction shot of Harry Krimer lingers so long it becomes funny. He just looks so confused about why he is there.

If you like movies that feel like a dusty old book you found in the attic, give it a go. Just don't expect to feel particularly happy when it’s over. It’s more of a 'huh, that was a choice' kind of experience. 🤔

It is definitely better than The Dust of Egypt, at least. At least the people here look like they are in the same room as each other.

Anyway, I'm going to go look in the mirror and check for wrinkles now. This movie got into my head. 🪞