I initially felt awful for not enjoying this film, mainly because there were so many elements in it I normally love. It is a lighthearted French romantic comedy featuring one of the greatest actresses of her generation, directed by one of the most formidable filmmakers France has seen in recent decades. There was so much going for Let the Sunshine In (French: Un beau soleil intérieur), yet I simply could not find myself feeling anything towards this film (other than overtly ambivalent boredom). To call this film disappointing is a massive understatement – because not only is it painfully mediocre, it squanders such a promising premise and a terrific cast, and becomes nothing short of an utter snooze. Perhaps there was something I was missing when I was watching this film, but I just was entirely unable to find anything particularly noteworthy about it, and as heartbreaking as it is to say, Let the Sunshine In is a rather dismal excuse for a film of its stature. It is not awful, but rather as dull as they come, a pretentious romp that has such potential and wastes nearly all of it.

Isabelle (Juliette Binoche) is a middle-aged artist living in Paris. She is divorced and has a young daughter who spends most of her time with her ex-husband. Isabelle feels lost in life, and in an attempt to feel something, she engages in emotionless affairs with a variety of men, some of which she adores, others she despises. She is in the midst of an existential crisis and starts to realize that in order to move forward, she needs to forget the past and understand who she truly is. Her various suitors range from the deceptively charming to the despicably vile, yet Isabelle finds herself constantly in flux, lost in a hostile world with an uncertain future, looking to these men for the answers, only to discover that they are willing to engage in Isabelle’s quest for carnal satisfaction, but her emotional desires are not their main priority, showing their fear of commitment and willingness to use the fragile Isabelle as a throwaway object rather than a complex individual. With such uncertainty surrounding her, how is Isabelle ever supposed to come to terms with herself and move forward and finally “let the sunshine in”?

I don’t know what I was expecting from this film. As you can tell from the synopsis provided above, Let the Sunshine In is a character study of a complex individual, and to its credit, it does cast someone perfect for the role. Juliette Binoche is the epitome of fragile sophistication and steadfast complexity, and her nuanced portrayal of Isabelle is quite marvellous. The problem lies in the fact that the film occurring around her is so mediocre, not even her dedicated performance can overcome the problems with the story. I’m not entirely sure why a film by Claire Denis, someone who has made some extraordinary films such as Beau Travail (featuring one of the greatest dance scenes in cinema history) and White Material, could go so terribly wrong. My criticisms of this film come with an exceptionally heavy heart – I wanted to love this film, and I wanted to praise it somehow. Yet, outside of its dedicated central performance, and a few strong moments from other members of the otherwise forgettable ensemble, there is nothing really redeeming about this film, not even enough for me to pretend to find something worthwhile.

Perhaps my expectations were too high, but that is only partially my fault, as much of what has been written about Let the Sunshine In has referred to it as a romantic comedy. I am not someone who pays too much attention to strict genre classification, and I can find many films contain some semblance of comedy in them if you look deep enough, even if it is just some lighthearted levity to temporarily distract from a bleak storyline. Let the Sunshine In is neither romantic nor a comedy, so to market it as such is a problem. There is not a single moment of joviality or good-natured humour in this film, nor anything even remotely romantic. It is a film about a woman engaged in complex love affairs with a range of men hoping that they will provide her with answers to the biggest enigma of all: herself. Arguably, expecting this film to adhere to the same conventions of other romantic comedies was misguided, especially because it doesn’t seem much like Denis to make something entirely void of profound meaning, but the way this film was constructed and promoted, as some postmodern romantic comedy, seemed flagrantly misleading. Perhaps if I knew what I was getting into with this film, I would have approached it from a different standpoint. However, it, unfortunately, did not meet any of my high expectations, nor any expectations I had at all.

One element of this film should have raised suspicions before even watching it – the fact that Denis made this film as an adaptation of the book A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments by Roland Barthes. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Barthes. I think he is one of the preeminent postmodern scholars, and his writings are highly influential and important for understanding not only modern literature but contemporary culture as a whole. Let the Sunshine In, however, taught me a very important lesson that I don’t think actually needed to be said: philosophical texts by overly-academic scholars do not normally make for the most riveting films. I am not adverse to philosophical films, or films that approach the nature of existence. Rather, I’m opposed to films that take a beautifully-composed text, one that is supposed to incite an intimate and meaningful relationship between the author and the reader, and translate these themes very loosely onto the screen, where we see characters talking for extended periods of time without actually saying anything that strikes us as particularly meaningful. Much of what Barthes intended to say with his text is lost in this adaptation, and what was likely a beautiful ode to love and existence became a meandering, often laborious chore into the mind of a character who is already nothing special, and only made even less interesting by the reckless lack of characterization beyond being a delicate, hopelessly unhappy woman.

It seems to me that there is a great disparity between what Let the Sunshine In was aspiring to be, and what it actually was, to the point where not only does the film waste its potential, it outright contradicts its intentions in many instances. It tries to be a vivacious comedy-drama about finding the joys in existence, but it ends up being lifeless and dull. Denis attempts to make a film about a strong-willed, independent woman and rather constructs someone whose entire existence is built around selfish men, and coming from one of the great feminist filmmakers of her time, this approach is unquestionably alarming. Actually, the most unforgivable shortcoming present in this film is that of the character of Isabelle, who is supposed to be a complex woman but doesn’t seem to get any necessary nuance to justify it. We don’t know who she is, and she is defined entirely through her relationships with forgettable, unlikable men. Denis has shown great skill at representing female issues on countless occasions, which makes the fact that in the one film that could have been a stark, powerful feminist statement, she chooses to create such a bland, uninspiring and stereotypical character even more troubling.

The film tries to be a philosophical odyssey through contemporary life, but rather becomes a dull, overly verbose series of episodic moments, none of which add much value or say anything nearly as profound as it thinks it is saying. If we remove the rose-tinted lenses of the French arthouse and look at Let the Sunshine In as what it actually is, we’ll see a terribly disappointing work that seems to continuously be reaching a crescendo, showing the potential for brilliance, but instead disposes of this, opting for an approach that is far more alienating than it is representative of modern social angst. Perhaps there is some good in the dismal failure of Let the Sunshine In – it makes us realize that just because something is made by someone extremely acclaimed, starring one of the finest actresses of her generation, and occupying a definite position in the foreign-language arthouse does not make it particularly good. In fact, it demonstrates the fine line between meaningful, profound philosophical cinema, and pretentious, pompous filmmaking.

Let the Sunshine In runs at only 94 minutes, which was a surprise to me, because I felt like I had been watching this film for twice as long, due to the exceptionally slow-paced, lifeless execution. There is a complete lack of anything compelling in this film, including the characters, none of which (not even our protagonist) is particularly likeable or endearing. The fact that I disliked Let the Sunshine In is really disheartening because I was expecting to absolutely adore it. It is a film that is well within my wheelhouse, and I normally relish in these sensitive but profound stories, mainly because of how beautifully engaging they can be when done correctly. Let the Sunshine In is a film without nearly as much meaning as it credits itself having. It is a bundle of moments that are supposed to be indicative of the life of our protagonist, showing the intricate minutiae that govern her daily routines as she seeks to find her place in the world, but instead of making any bold or powerful assertions, this film just ends up being sadly mediocre, and as much as I wanted to avoid saying this, almost unbearably boring.

There is nothing about Let the Sunshine In that keeps the audience captivated, and the film itself is just an exercise in showing the most mundane aspects of existence. It lacks charm, and it ends without any resolution, which makes every minuscule merit such as Binoche’s undeniable talents and the warm visual composition of the film, almost inconsequential. In the end, Let the Sunshine In was just a bore, which really was a shame, especially considering what this film could’ve been with the talent involved and the great premise. I am sincerely disappointed, but unfortunately, it is what it is. It doesn’t invalidate the careers of anyone involved, but it isn’t their finest moment, and I can only hope that whatever they do next is a substantial improvement on this bland, barren and superficial attempt at meaningful storytelling.