This movie's story (a Norwegian scientist going through a breakup visits Paris for a conference on the weight of a kilo and begins a cold friendship with another man) did nothing for me. But its art direction, wardrobe, cinematography, and editing are just impeccable. You do not need to worry about the plot (what is going to happen to the lonely scientist? Will she ever find happiness?) to greatly enjoy 1001 Grams.

The pleasures of the film are entirely visual: the interiors of the lab, the scientist’s blue electric car, her uniform home in the uniform suburbs, her neat shoes and modern dresses. This scientist, Marie (Ane Dahl Torp), looks like she is living in the future, but this future is also the world we live in now.