Catherine Lecavalier is the reason this lands

Catherine Lecavalier gives this role a little extra shape without making a big show of it. There is a nice lived-in quality to it, nothing too forced. I bought the character pretty quickly, which is not always easy in this kind of film. The small reactions do a lot of the heavy lifting. A couple of tiny timing choices really stuck with me. It is less about one scene and more about the overall aftertaste.