Gloria Bell ends exactly as it starts – the titular character (Julianne Moore) stands on a crowded dance-floor, bathed in neon lights, dancing her heart out to a selection of the hits from a bygone era. The difference between these two scenes is the roughly two hours between them, which chronicle a time in the life of the protagonist as she once again enters into the dating life after a divorce, visiting clubs and bars, hoping to find someone who will capture her heart. It isn’t long before he encounters Arnold (John Turturro), a newly-single man who runs a moderately successful gaming park, and is as eager to find someone to share his recent marital emancipation as she is. Over the course of the film, we see Gloria surmount various challenges and embrace, some of them to do with her new beau, others to do with her own personal quandaries. What makes the dancing scenes that bookend the films so deeply compelling is that just like Gloria, we have undertaken a powerful journey into the heart of a woman coming to terms with a certain social ennui, and finding fierce independence within herself. The dance that starts the film is awkward, stilted and uncertain, as well as involving others, the dance that ends the film is joyful, exuberant and confident, and most importantly, independent, as Gloria finally finds the love of her life has been right there with her all along.

Sebastián Lelio made a masterpiece with 2013’s Gloria, a tale of a divorced woman making her way around some of Chile’s most popular bars and clubs, hoping to find love, something she hasn’t felt for years. Surprisingly, Lelio opted to take the same material and reimagine it from an American perspective, almost shot-for-shot remaking it, but not in a way that feels like a cheap attempt to cash in on a good idea, but rather as a way of revitalizing a successful work and meditating further on some of its most interesting themes. Gloria Bell is a film that, above all else, is undeniably a pleasant, heartwarming experience. Whether or not someone likes it is another matter, but to avoid mentioning that this is inherently a very warm, endearing and utterly charming film dismisses the immense heartfulness at its core. An argument can be made in defence of Lelio’s decision to readapt the material, because if a highly-successful foreign film is going to be remade in America, perhaps the best person to helm it is the original director (but this brings its own issues, such as an inability to let go of the original and reimagine it as something new). Either way, Lelio successfully revisits this material, and the result is perhaps best described as being almost exactly the same. In comparison with the original film, there isn’t much to differentiate between them – their stories are identical, and there are many shots that appear to be directly replicated from the original. Yet, this isn’t a shortcoming, because Gloria Bell, for better or worse, is an endlessly entertaining, and deeply emotional experience that uses the original as a springboard to explore some other ideas, albeit not ones that are overtly represented, but rather subtly implied. Lelio did exceptionally well in taking hold of his original creation and working magic all over again into something that may not be better than its predecessor but is just as good.

Gloria Bell, like all of its successes, begins and ends with Julianne Moore. There are few actresses capable of such sincere brilliance as her, and this film represents one of her most impressive performances to date. Gloria Bell is a tricky character to play – she is a regular woman who has the hidden confidence and rebellious spirit of someone far younger and more outgoing than she is. She goes in search of love, only to find herself along the way (a taut cliche, but one never better used than in the context of this delightful film). Moore is glorious in this film, and from start to finish, she delivers an incredible performance that draws upon her natural sincerity, her dynamic intensity and her general ability to play characters who are endlessly complex and a bundle of curious quirks and admirable qualities. Lelio created a film that primarily serves as a portrait of a woman who represents an archetype rarely utilized as the lead for mainstream romance films, and while the relationship between Gloria and Arnold occupies most of the film, it is Moore’ performance that is the centrepiece, the source of every moment of emotional resonance and deep introspection, and the reason why this film flourishes in the way it does. It is also in what she does here that differentiates this film from the original – taking on the role performed so effortlessly by Paulina García and interprets it as her own, creating her own version of the character and giving her a unique voice that perhaps doesn’t supersede its forerunner, but rather complements it beautifully. Moore is astonishing in the film, and reuniting with her co-star from The Big Lebowski, John Turturro (who is excellent in his own right, and hasn’t been given a film role this interesting since perhaps Barton Fink), she is able to convey the highs and lows of modern romance with ease and effortless grace.

The area that Gloria Bell thrives the most in is that it is a new and subversive approach to romantic comedy tropes and conventions. No longer do we have the traditional narrative beats, but something that uses a familiar structure and dismantles it to the point where it isn’t the romance that is compelling, but the situations surrounding it. For most of the film, we are lead to believe that it is going to result in some crescendo romance for the titular character, when in actuality, the actual romantic love at the core is only superficial, and there to bolster the central character and her progression. Still, even though the romance is secondary to the main themes of the film, it is still so compelling –  there are very few films bursting with a deft blend of unhinged emotional anarchy and raw, brooding sexuality as this one, while still managing to remain hilarious and heartfelt in equal measure. Its approach to romance is one that is fundamentally unique – for Gloria, there is no such thing as “the one” – the concept of the soul mate is completely foreign to her, and even though she cares very deeply for Arnold, he isn’t what defines her, regardless of his frequent attempts to remind her of his undying love to her (not helped with his frequent absences to go tend to other matters). Love is a complex, abstract concept that is not really anything close to accurately representing reality, and Lelio in both films has taken a daring approach to showing love not as something one should aspire to feel and thus subsequently retreat from all other ambitions, but rather that it is a joyful aspect of life that co-occurs with other imperative experiences, aiding in our emotional and spiritual growth, but not necessarily defining it.

Putting aside the romance at the core of Gloria Bell demonstrates that this is not merely a romantic film, but something much deeper, and far more profound. There is a reason why the titular character is not a young woman, differentiating this film from nearly every other romantic comedy, because other than being evidence that everyone deserves to feel the giddy excitement of falling in love, regardless of what stage of life you’re in, this is a steadfast testament to the beauty of ageing and the process of growing old, but not necessarily growing up. Gloria has two aspects to her life – the serious side, which is dominated by her working career and her role as a mother and grandmother, and her more fun-loving side, that goes to clubs and dances with a fervent fever that most people half her age struggle to exhibit. This film is a story about a woman and her various trials and tribulations, and the challenges she has to overcome in order to be herself. It is an empowering and melancholic statement about our constant need for validation and acceptance, where we chase after unrealistic ambitions purely because we have been lead to believe that it is normal. Throughout the film, Gloria grows exponentially as a character, and realizes something that bears real-world significance: she realizes the importance of accepting herself, learning to love her flaws and surmount her insecurities. Contrary to what we are told throughout life, our imperfections don’t make us defective or unappealing, nor do they define us. Rather, they are the precise qualities about us that are perhaps the most beautiful, because ultimately, they ground us and remind us that after all, in spite of everything, we are all just human, and one of the great joys of existence is realizing that each and every one of us is unique in our own way, and embracing that and truly loving who we are can be the most liberating moment of all.

Ultimately, when compared with the original, Gloria Bell doesn’t do much differently. Yet, did anyone really need it to? Sebastián Lelio made two very compelling films that follow the same story, albeit from different temporal and geographical perspectives, and while their plots are essentially the same, they’re made very different by the energy imbued in each of them. This film, in particular, is a masterful restaging of a fable with universally-resonant themes. By having a protagonist who is far more ordinary and conventional than those we normally are given in romantic films, we are able to relate to her and her various crises, whether it be in terms of her identity, her romantic affairs or existential quandaries. Julianne Moore is flawless in what can only be considered one of her finest performances to date, where her natural vivacity is so deeply captivating and allows this film to flourish on the strength of her complex but exuberant interpretation of a character who remains deeply congenial to the modern world and its more regular inhabitants, all of which are in search of something far greater than they are, when in actuality what they are looking for is right within them. Gloria Bell is a lovely, meaningful and heartfelt work that may not be innovative, nor does it make great strides, but still remains a powerful, potent reminder of the resilience of the human spirit, and the importance of embracing our own flaws and turning our insecurities into the qualities that make us beautiful.