[Tribeca Review] Attachment
Directed and written by Gabriel Bier Gislason as his debut film, Attachment (2022) is a romance horror centered around two lovers, Leah (Ellie Kendrick, Game of Thrones) and Maja (Josephine Park, Doggystyle), who face more than a few challenges in their relationship with a rather large secret that comes to light towards the end of the film leaving one with a life-altering choice.
Showcased at TriBeca Film Festival, Attachment begins with Leah in Denmark studying abroad, coming across the once-relevant actress Maja who is using her previous role for work, but it is Maja who is smitten right away. The two become inseparable until Leah has a seizure then an injury that leaves her quite vulnerable. Maja immediately decides that she can’t be without Leah and goes back to London with her love interest. Once she gets there, she meets Leah’s devout Orthodox Jewish mother Chana (Sofie Gråbøl, The Killing) who is all but an icy figure toward a jovial Maja, even with them sharing the same mother tongue of Danish.
Try as Maja does to win over Leah’s mother, nothing seems to work. Happening upon a shop in the community Leah’s mother cannot seem to leave, she meets Uncle Lev (David Dencik, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) who is helpful to a point, until he realizes that Maja is staying with his sister-in-law, Chana. Maja hears strange noises that Leah dismisses many times as well as the candles strewn about the home, especially one that mysteriously appears every evening in the room Leah and Maja share. Uncle Lev tries to help Maja understand by giving her a book on Jewish mysticism, but Maja concentrates on the wrong subject—Chana. In the end, it is her beloved that she realizes is the one she should’ve learned far more about. This comes with consequences.
Both Chana and Maja adore Leah, even with Maja not having known Leah very long at all, to which the character even mentions in passing with regards to how quickly Maja was able to uproot herself and install her life into Leah’s world. Chana even warns Maja that the kind of love she has for Leah can be quite dangerous (Maja admitted that she all but lived for Leah which is also mirrored with Chana’s love as an overbearing mother). Although they both fight to be the top woman in Leah’s life, once you reach the climax of the film, they both only want Leah to live without pain and suffering.
Attachment isn’t what you think when the film begins, and even when you think you’ve got it figured out, you are left reeling in the end. With the name of the film being accurate of one of the themes this movie is ran on, it also gives the audience a lesson—or warning—on Jewish mysticism and superstition, but also showcases that line between healthy familial relationships and romantic relationships that can curve just that side of dangerously unhealthy.
The acting is superb with moments of humor sprinkled in between the dread. You empathize with Maja throughout the film, but there are some parts where you wish she would be careful with how far she goes (and to leave her hands off of people’s things). The film is wonderfully written and the horror is just right for the mixture of horror-romance and drama. Attachment will have you wanting to hug your mother just a little bit tighter as well.
Attachment can be streamed on Shudder.
