A disturbingly surreal weekend getaway serves as a young married couple’s attempt to rekindle their passion in The One I Love. Sent by a marriage counselor to spend three days alone in a quiet cottage, the two lovers, played by a skeptical Mark Duplass and a slightly more free-spirited Elisabeth Moss, find themselves face-to-face with everything they first loved about one another. Misunderstandings happen, love is questioned, and in the end, a mystery involving the true nature of the cottage is unraveled.
The film is a feast for the eyes, using warm tones and lighting to capture the saccharine beauty of the land and the coziness of the cottage. The lighting serves a secondary purpose, cloaking the two stars’ faces in shadow, creating off-putting and obscure emotions and a surprisingly depressing effect despite the seemingly cheery atmosphere.
The ambiguous feel of the lighting is complemented by a minimalist, yet dynamic soundtrack. As Duplass first wanders about the property, for example, he is accompanied by a simple guitar line that steadily crescendos to capture his joy, while remaining simple and contained. This is appropriate enough, given containment is one of the key themes of this film, palpable through the protagonists’ situation, the idea of marriage, and ultimately love, as an unfortunate, sometimes inexplicable trap.
The performances are impressive and the characters are entirely sympathetic. Though Duplass is controlling, suspicious, and uptight, he has a sensitive side and cares deeply for his wife. It’s hard not to feel for the man as he gazes hopefully at the fantastic, romantic results previous guests have described in the photo guestbook.
Moss is equally excellent in her execution of the role of the still-youthful, curious, blissful wife who also possesses strong sense of independence and moral reasoning. She will need both if she is going to make some tough choices regarding her current relationship at the weekend’s close.
The film’s only problem is the inconsistency of Moss’ character. The character fluctuates between being empathetic and rational to oddly misguided and solely emotion-driven, as she acts towards the movie’s close. One could argue, however, that the latter is simply one part of her and Duplass’s shared impulsive behavior, displayed at the movie’s start when the two lovers break into a man’s backyard and go swimming in his pool to relive the joy of their youth.
Their reckless tendencies certainly pop up from time to time, such as when they light up a joint upon their arrival at the cottage. The issue is that this recklessness seems less consistent in its influence on Moss’s character, making it hard to establish her as a concrete character. Ultimately, the script, rather than her character’s mind, seems to control her actions.
Regardless of a single minor complaint, The One I Love is one of the most original films of the year. By providing more questions than answers, the film demands the audience to think and, occasionally, announces that not everything needs to be dissected for meaning. Regardless, it’s both deceptively simple and ridiculously complex, depending on how you decide to approach it. It will move you, and maybe make you think a little more about what we are willing to remember and forget in our romantic lives.
