The subtitle speaks to this dark comedy’s complete rejection of
aggressive
action, including noticeable plot progression. But
writer/director Stephane Lafleur digs deeply in this stylish stasis,
tracking a half-dozen lonely French souls as they live out their
quietly complicated lives, from a new widow paralyzed by liberation to
a traveling salesmen so hungry for connection he’ll watch you have
sex, if you ask nice. Lafleur’s appetite for pathos is matched by
his eye for perversity, and the resulting film is a slow-burning
charmer. (Pacific Place, 600 Pine St. 9:30 pm, ticket info at
www.thestranger.com/siff.)

David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest...