Nymphomaniac: Vol. I

If you want a drama that takes its characters as seriously as its plot, Nymphomaniac: Vol. I is available in the US on Philo and Kanopy, and in the UK on BFI Player right now. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Charlotte Gainsbourg anchors it with a performance that rewards close attention. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Philo.

Whatever else is competing for your attention this week, Nymphomaniac: Vol. I is worth clearing space for. Character-driven storytelling at its most effective — Nymphomaniac: Vol. I earns every emotional beat it goes for. A man named Seligman finds a fainted wounded woman in an alley and he brings her home. She tells him that her name is Joe and that she is nymphomaniac. Joe tells her life and sexual experiences with hundreds of men since she was a young teenager while Seligman tells about his hobbies, such as fly fishing, reading about Fibonacci numbers or listening to organ music. Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stellan Skarsgård lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2013. Nymphomaniac: Vol. I resists tidy resolutions in a way that respects how messy real consequences actually are. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

For anyone looking for storytelling that takes its characters seriously, Nymphomaniac: Vol. I delivers. If you have run out of similar titles to watch, this is a strong next pick. It is a manageable watch, easy to fit into a single evening. Charlotte Gainsbourg's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.