Humans are messy. We like to blame rationality for our everyday actions, but the truth is we are animals moved by impulse and deeply scarred by our past traumas. From there come our quirks and contradictions. Still, what makes us flawed is also what ensures every person who ever lived is unique, with a story to tell unlike any other. For the past two decades, Rebecca Miller has used filmmaking to explore the singularity of each human life, creating characters that feel real because they are unlike any other, all the while echoing universal doubts and regrets. And with her new movie, She Came to Me, Miller shows how much she evolved as a storyteller with the passing of the years. Not only does She Came to Me have one of the most exciting casts of characters in Miller’s filmography, but all these weird and strangely familiar people cross paths into a story that elegantly ties seemingly incompatible elements.
Any movie that explores the confusion of human existence needs actors capable of bringing complex characters to life. And while Miller has always been fortunate when it comes to casting, she has never managed to unite so much raw talent under a single project. Anne Hathaway gives depth to the cliché of a controlled and maniac woman by exploring how the need for order can be the fruit of internal chaos. Meanwhile, Joanna Kulig embraces her Polish heritage to expose the daily class struggles immigrants are exposed to in America, while also exploring the conflicting nature of motherhood, as supporting your children can sometimes mean stopping protecting them. As for Marisa Tomei, despite her long and brilliant career, it’s impossible to remember any other part that resembles her tugboat captain, simultaneously down-to-earth and sublimated by the idea of an ideal love she can never reach.
Every character Miller wrote for She Came to Me is incredibly layered, and as the movie goes by, it becomes clear they were introduced in the story to do more than move the plot forward. They are there to find their own happiness in a world that frequently beats us down and which we can only survive thanks to love, be it romantic, familial, or even divine. At the end of the day, love gives us a reason to reinvent ourselves and transforms us into the people we want to become. And while love has always been a concern for Miller in her filmmaking career, the idea of love was never as broad and inclusive as in She Came to Me.
All of that leads us to Peter Dinklage’s Steven, an opera composer suffering from a creative blockage and around whom every other character gravitates. While looking for inspiration, Steven will help to unite the many characters of She Came to Me into a single quest for love, which will also involve heartache and disappointment. Ultimately, She Came to Me is all about adults and teens learning the importance of being honest with themselves and emotionally responsible for the people we hold dear.
It’s worth noting that not that long ago, Dinklage played the lead role in Cyrano, a love story about a playwriter who, despite his low self-esteem, presents himself as an unshakable force, always meeting his adversaries with a calm gaze and a straight back. In She Came to Me, Dinklage is once more playing the part of an artist trying to create meaning through art, but Steven couldn’t be more different from Cyrano. Dinklage translates Steven's total lack of confidence through a different body language and a particular way of keeping his eyes down, proving once again his enormous range as an actor, capable of making two similar characters at first glance feel like opposites. And while Miller's emotional writing surely helps the cast to bring She Came to Me characters to life, the movie is also a testament to how Dinklage remains one of the best actors currently active in Hollywood.
It's also curious that She Came to Me tells the story through the eyes of a male character. In her entire filmography, Miller has demonstrated a rare interest in complex feminine protagonists, a rule she only broke in The Ballad of Jack and Rose. Still, that movie splits the perspective between the two titular characters, while She Came to Me is pretty much Steven's story. That doesn't mean She Came to Me doesn't pay enough attention to its female cast, but it reveals how Miller can keep her grounded and humane style while finding fresh viewpoints to explore.
People who didn't enjoy Miller's previous movies might remain unconvinced by She Came to Me. That's because, while its story is more well-rounded than some of her earlier works, She Came to Me keeps Miller's trend of putting singular human lives in the spotlight. Still, there's a lot to love in Miller's latest movie, from unique characters to brilliant performances, passing through a beautiful message of how love has a revolutionary effect on our lives. In addition, with so many broadly recognizable stars involved in the project and a linear narrative that's easy to follow, She Came to Me could become Miller's most popular movie to date. By appealing to the more casual moviegoer without losing the best things she brings to the table, Miller has birthed her best film yet.
Rating: B+
She Came to Me had its world premiere at 2023's Berlin Film Festival.