Lack of closure can short circuit the grieving process. This is especially true when it’s not completely certain whether a loved one is alive or dead. At the opening of Claire in Motion, a math professor faces such a challenge, as her thrill-seeking husband fails to return after heading out into the forest on a solo four-day survivalist trip. His disappearance leaves Claire (Betsy Brandt) and the couple’s adolescent son, Connor (Zev Haworth), in an emotional state of suspended animation. Weeks go by and, as search efforts stall, mother and son must try to come to terms with a new definition of normal.
Though Claire in Motion presents some intrigue as its protagonist begins to realize there was much about Paul (Chris Beetem) she didn’t know, the film shies away from going for a thriller or mystery angle and instead focuses on one woman’s struggle to reestablish herself on steady ground. The film positions itself as a slow burn, yet it never quite digs deep enough to strike the poignancy for which it clearly strives. Claire’s attempts to process the void left by her husband’s disappearance are complicated when she discovers that Paul, also a professor and a man of science, has been collaborating with an art student named Allison (Anna Margaret Hollyman), a new-agey and vaguely manipulative woman who apparently shared an artistic intimacy with Paul that sets Claire immediately on edge. Claire had no idea Paul made art and the more she finds out the more her confidence in how much she really knew of her husband begins to unravel.
For as slight as Claire in Motion is, Brandt makes the most of her leading role. A veteran TV actress perhaps best known for the purple-obsessed Marie Schrader in Breaking Bad, Brandt imbues Claire with believable internal confliction. While she’s reluctant to give up the search for her husband, she understands the police’s decision. Her bristling at Allison’s strange intrusion comes off as relatable as her growing sense of impulsivity is understandable. But for as capable a performance as Brandt gives, the film seems hesitant to raise the stakes, even with a husband presumed dead. Claire hangs a lot of missing person signs, but the search is otherwise understated and not the film’s primary focus. Instead, we’re meant to delve into her apprehension when presented with facts that would indicate her husband hid huge portions of himself from her. And indeed, these are the most compelling aspects of the film. But writers/directors Annie J. Howell and Lisa Robinson keep the tension at such a low simmer that it’s difficult to become very invested in the story.
While Claire in Motion deserves credit for avoiding the sensationalist tropes that surround missing-persons narratives in more genre-oriented films, it suffers from a sparseness that borders on inconsequentiality. Missed opportunities abound—Claire’s training in math pops up on occasion, but is never explored, despite the juxtaposition between the absolute nature of numbers and the abstractness of art offering fertile narrative ground. Ending abruptly and with a truncated character arc that becomes a glaring flaw in a story hinged on what is supposed to be a profound inner transformation, the film, well-intentioned as it may be, simply loses its way.
The post Claire in Motion appeared first on Spectrum Culture.