Petit Mal

... Three artists create drama together — which definition of drama is unclear. I assume it’s a little of both. Revealing and not. Exaggerated and not. Truth and not.

Study of queer throuples.

It's sometimes too sedate for its own good, but even the most mundane moments have an appealing, honest vulnerability.

Petit Mal is filled with shallower personal gestures that increase the pseudo-documentary feel without giving too much away, and it comes with mixed results.

The value of Petit Mal is in the performances and formal flourishes that disrupt the actors’ rhythm work against one’s overall enjoyment.

Petit Mal is a complex study about an emotional breakdown that will possibly shatter your heart out of the absence of answers, but it’s also a fascinating representation of the dynamics of a very human relationship that’s not often depicted in film.

An elegant and authentic drama.

The occasionally tedious drama Petit Mal is an intimate and proficiently acted character study of what happens when three women in a polyamorous relationship together navigate the changing dynamics of the relationship.

This was a project to stay sane in lockdown, not that there’s anything wrong with that. But a little more imagination would have lifted the movie past its clever setup into something more fun to watch than it was to make.