Afraid of Everything

The French woman Anne (35) is partly handicapped following a car accident and in the year of her rehabilitation she has rarely left her apartment in America. She lives with her husband Donny, an architect, and spends all day reorganising her apartment and with other futilities. While the couple are very fond of each other, the agoraphobia and the physical discomfort are not without their consequences for the marriage. Yet neither of them takes the plunge and talks about the frustrations and the lack of sexual contact. Change comes to this tense, silent existence cut off from the world when Anne’s half-sister Iris comes to visit from Israel. A teenager filled with energy and fun, who is however attracted to the withdrawn and secure lifestyle of Anne and Donny. She nestles into the house like a wasp in a bottle of beer, but her presence brings the couple’s suppressed fears and desires at the surface. The style of Afraid of Everything is both sober and rich in details. The un-American début of David Barker is mysterious and atmospheric, but retains a light tone despite all the personal outpourings. Nathalie Richard (who previously acted with Jacques Rivette, Olivier Assayas and Cedric Kahn) and newcomers Daniel Aukin and Sarah Adler carry the film.