Who You Think I Am
Who You Think I Am () is a 2019 French drama film directed by Safy Nebbou. Plot. Claire, a middle-aged professor of French literature, shares custody of her two sons with her ex-husband Gilles. She carries on an affair with the twenty-something Ludovic, who obviously sees it as more casual than Claire. After a tryst, he distances himself from her, and when she calls, he pretends not to be there and has his roommate Alex answer the phone. Claire contrives to befriend Alex online. She creates a fake persona, "Clara Antunès", on Facebook  and connects with Alex, gradually developing an emotional and cybersexual affair with him. When Alex grows insistent upon meeting in person, Claire, as Clara, says she's getting married and moving to Brazil, calling off the affair rather than risk Alex being disappointed with her middle-aged self. Alex deletes his profile, leading Claire to meet with Ludovic to find out about him. He tells her that Alex, broken-hearted over a "psychopath" on Facebook, has taken his own life. These narrative details are interspersed with a series of psychotherapy sessions between Claire and Dr Bormans. Bormans asks Claire to  be honest about a detail in her story that does not add up, leading Claire to disclose that the photos and videos of "Clara" used during her communications with Alex actually belong to her estranged niece, Katia, whom Gilles had left Claire for. Bormans receives a dossier from Claire containing a story in which she makes Alex' acquaintance after the end of the "Clara" persona. In the story, Alex and Claire become live-in lovers, but a nagging doubt over whether "Clara" retains a place in his heart leads Claire to revive the persona and ask Alex for a meeting . Alex, torn, chances upon the alternate phone she used for "Clara"; confronting Claire at a tea shop, he unnerves her to the point where she backs up into traffic, getting hit by a car. Bormans concludes from the story that Claire is unwilling to allow herself any happiness, even in a work of fiction. It's revealed that Claire is a patient in a clinic for treatment of a mental disorder. Later, Bormans decides to ask Ludovic for information about Alex, and learns from him that Alex' death was a ruse of his making. Having heard "Clara's" voice in  one of her calls to Alex, Ludovic had realized what Claire was doing and decided to step in to protect his friend. Dr. Bormans brings this information to Claire, who is now ready to leave the institution. In the last scene, Claire dials Alex' number from "Clara's" phone. Release. The movie premiered during the 69th Berlin International Film Festival on 10 February 2019. Reception. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on critics, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, ""Who You Think I Am" bites off more  plot than some viewers will be able to chew, but its narrative entanglements are more than offset by Juliette Binoche's central performance." Pat Padua of "The Washington Post" called the film "thoroughly entertaining", while Claudia Puig from KPCC's "FilmWeek" called it "thought-provoking". Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" praised the role of Claire Millaud by Juliette Binoche, writing that "[She]... fluidly navigates all the narrative switchbacks and emotional storms, enough that you may not mind the pileup of strained developments and coincidences". Writing for the "Los Angeles Times", Roxana Hadadi suggested that the film "Vacillates between  high-minded and tawdry", "result[ing] in an engaging mashup of psychological drama and social media thriller". Guy Lodge of "Variety" wrote that "Safy Nebbou tucks bittersweet human observations between unabashedly outlandish twists". Reviewing the film at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, Neil Young of "The Hollywood Reporter" called the film a "Catfish a la Francaise: Conventional-looking dish yields surprisingly sharp flavors". In the United Kingdom, the film was praised by "The Times", whose Kevin Maher said "I've seen it twice and it's even better the second time". "The Daily Telegraph", called "Who You Think I Am  a kind of illicit thrill". Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian", "Binoche's performance and the movie are elegant, ingenious and sexy". The criticism of the film internationally was also positive. Sandra Hall of "The Sydney Morning Herald" called the film "flawed", but "has an] elegant morality tale about the dangers and temptations of the virtual life".