I think I remember seeing a review by Mark Kermode for this French film, it certainly sounded like an interesting story, and the lead actress definitely made it appealing to me. Basically, fifty-year-old Claire Millaud (Juliette Binoche) is a university lecturer and professor of French literature. After the divorce from her ex-husband Gilles (Charles Berling), following his affair with a younger woman, she shares custody of her two teenage sons. She continues an affair with the younger Ludovic "Ludo" Dalaux (Guillaume Gouix), but he sees it as more casual than Claire. Ludo soon distances himself from her, and when she calls, his roommate Alex Chelly (François Civil) answers the phone and pretends he is out. Claire creates a fake persona, twenty-four-year-old "Clara Antunès", on Facebook, to connect with Alex, using a photograph of her niece Katia (Marie-Ange Casta). Initially she intended to reconnect with Ludo, but he only accepts friendships online from people he knows personally. She continues to connect with Alex, including using a second mobile phone to text and talk to him. She speaks with her own voice which he is surprised by but attracted to. They have many conversations, and it gradually develops into emotional and cybersexual affair. Claire is in love with him, and he is in love with her fake profile and voice. Soon Alex grows insistent upon meeting in person, so Claire, as Clara, invents a busy job, professional trips and even a jealous ex. Realising that her feelings for Alex are strong and that they cannot have a real relationship, she decides it is best to let him go. As Clara, she tells makes a "confession" that she is getting married and moving to Brazil, calling off the affair rather than risk a meeting. Alex tells her that he is coming to visit her at a given location if she wishes to meet him. Claire does go to the location at the time he said, she is taken aback seeing him in person. Alex deletes his profile, leading Claire to approach Ludovic to find out about him. He tells her that Alex was broken-hearted by a "psychopath" on Facebook and killed himself. Claire has been telling this story through a series of psychotherapy sessions with Dr. Catherine Bormans (Nicole Garcia). Bormans receives a dossier from Claire containing a story in which she and Alex communicated, following the end of her "Clara" persona. In the story, she followed him after he left the given location and he talked about his ambitions to become a professional photographer. They form a close friendship when he takes photographs of her for the cover of her upcoming book. He eventually moves in with her, and they become lovers. But there is a doubt in the back of Claire's mind as to whether he still has thoughts of "Clara". Claire to revive the persona and ask Alex for a meeting. Alex receives the message that she does not want him to call her, he ignores this, and finds her hidden phone and realises she is "Clara". He goes to confront Claire, finding her in a café with friends. He unnerves her to the point where she walks backwards into traffic and is presumably killed. This is the end of the dossier; Bormans concludes from the story that Claire is unwilling to allow herself any happiness, even in a work of fiction. It is revealed that Claire is a patient in a clinic for treatment of a mental disorder. Later, Bormans meets with Ludovic, who reveals that he heard "Clara's" voice in one of her calls to Alex, he recognised it was Claire and later invented the story of Alex's death. Dr. Bormans gives this information to Claire. She confesses that she became estranged from her niece Katia because Gilles had an affair with her. Claire now appears ready to leave the institution. In the last scene, Claire dials Alex's number from "Clara's" phone. Also starring Jules Houplain as Max, Jules Gauzelin as Tristan, Francis Leplay as Serge, Pierre Giraud as Paul, and Claude Perron as Solange. Binoche gives an exceptional performance as the divorced lonely middle-aged teacher who becomes a catfish, Civil is likeable as the younger man who unexpectedly falls for, it obviously explores the negative aspects of social media, and it is an equally intriguing and excruciating somewhat doomed love story, an interesting and worthwhile drama. Very good!
Review of Who You Think I Am
