Darkest Miriam – Review | Fantasia (3/5)

DARKEST MIRIAM is a thriller drama starring Britt Lower from the Apple TV+ series SEVERANCE. She was great in that and she’s brilliant in this movie. Screened for Fantasia 2024. Read our full Darkest Miriam movie review here!

DARKEST MIRIAM is screening at Fantasia 2024, and it’s a fascinating slice of someone’s life. In the title role, we see Britt Lower from Severance (the Apple TV+ series) and she’s brilliant.

Her performance is also heartbreaking. Make no mistake, this indie thriller drama hybrid will pull at your heartstrings and offer despair and hope. Not in equal measure exactly, but it does even out in a strange way.

Continue reading our Darkest Miriam movie review below.

You cannot look away

In Darkest Miriam, we follow the title character Miriam Gordon (Britt Lower) as she works in a library. Every day, she goes through the motions but also seems very comfortable in this job.

We see her fill out “incident reports” about some of the strange events that take place in the public library. The place ends up being part library with an involuntary side gig of being a social worker to misfits and unfortunate souls.

It all plays out in the middle of Toronto’s Allan Gardens. For lunch, Miriam goes to the park and watches people more than read the book she’s brought with her. She observes and contemplates, but rarely interacts.

Until she does.

A gothic romance

A man is also sitting in the park every day, and they begin to interact in small ways before they ever speak. From then the romance is fast and whirlwind, but also extremely atypical.

He’s a kind and strangely handsome taxi driver and artist named Janko (Tom Mercier, The Animal Kingdom) and he shares stories from his life with her. Always asking her to do the same, but as we see in flashbacks, there are dark memories that Miriam would rather leave be.

Their romance is a sweet one that seems doomed to be shrouded in mystery. As they slowly grow closer, Miriam needs to decide if she’s ready to open up. And can she afford to wait?!

Darkest Miriam screening at Fantasia 2024

Darkest Miriam is based on the acclaimed, Giller Prize-shortlisted novel aptly titled “The Incident Report”. It was written by Toronto author Martha Baillie. Director of this movie adaptation is Naomi Jaye.

Having watched this movie, I’m curious about the book, which is always a good sign. I especially loved all the quirky library characters. Like the “fainting man” and the “suitcase man”.

Along with the two main characters, the cast includes many other solid performances. Including from Sook-Yin Lee (Shortbus) and Jean Yoon (Kim’s Convenience). The movie is executive produced by Academy Award-winning Charlie Kaufman (I’m Thinking of Ending Things).

In many ways, Darkest Miriam is a tough and sad story. However, it’s also one that offers hope for the future. Change is possible, but often people need to be dragged out of their current funk to achieve a better life for themselves.

Darkest Miriam is reviewed as part of our Fantasia 2024 coverage.

Details

Writer & Director: Naomi Jaye
Cast: Sook-Yin Lee, Britt Lower, Tom Mercier, Jean Yoon