A woman struggling to make it as an actor in working-class Paris is starting to wonder if she will ever get a break. She takes acting classes where she is overlooked for the young hotties, lives in a tiny apartment, works an unsatisfying sales job, and does ineffectual singing bowl therapy. Since she hates everything about her life, she decides to kill herself on her 35th birthday, “the expiration date for actresses.” She begins working her way through her list of things to do before she dies, like giving away her stuff and having more sex. Emma Peeters has a European, lighthearted sensibility and is full of somewhat dark absurdist comedy. It isn’t the depressing story you would think from hearing the plot, and there is a refreshing through line of respecting her decision to not live anymore.
Emma Peeters screens tonight and Friday afternoon at the 45th Seattle International Film Festival. Further details here. Check out The Stranger‘s complete SIFF guide here.