Preparations to Be Together For an Unknown Period of Time (Lili Horvát, 2020) (Patreon)

In order to wrap my puny brain around Preparations, I had to come to terms with a niggling problem that is, in all fairness, more mine that Horvát's. That is, this film is a non-comedic, non-musical rendition of the TV show "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," one that swaps Budapest for West Covina, California. The basic premises are identical. Dr. Márta Vizy (Natasa Stork) is an exceedingly competent professional woman who catches a glimpse of a future colleague, János Drexler (Viktor Bodó) at a conference. A brief conversation (that, we learn, may or may not have actually happened) convinces Márta that János is the love of her life. She quits her prestigious post at a New Jersey neuroscience institute, abandons her previous existence, and moves back to Hungary after 20 years in the States, all so she can forge a relationship that, again, might not actually exist.

Preparations is a striking film. It is exceptionally well directed, with Horvát keeping the viewer within Márta's unreliable point of view throughout. She does this not only by what she shows (in frequently dark, ambiguous sequences) but also what she withholds. Márta's itinerary includes continued professional success (she removes a tricky brain tumor from a patient), but her obsession with János leads her to see a psychiatrist (Péter Tóth) to find out if she suffers from some form of mental illness. The therapy scenes appear to be flashbacks, giving the impression the whole film could be being narrated from a mental ward.

But nothing really comes of Márta's therapy. Similarly, Horvát introduces a possible supernatural element, as well as the possibility that János did hit on Márta back in New Jersey and is now just gaslighting her. Preparations is very good at doling out red herrings and potential twists, but the film just takes a punt in the end. Preparations seems to suggest an interest in the double-consciousness of high-achieving women in a sexist society, or the trap of romantic ideology, or even the reactionary emphasis on family and children in Viktor Orbán's Hungary. Lots of promises, alas, but no delivery.

While this may be perfectly reasonable in theory -- what would a really satisfying ending look like here? -- I came away feeling as though I'd spent 90 minutes in the hands of a skillful but directionless auteur, someone with (as Scott Tobias likes to say) "miles of style," but not much to say. But now that Horvát has made her Preparations, maybe next time she can actually go somewhere.