Someone can be right in front of you, and you wouldn't even know that they were the
one for you. This is a movie about a meet-cute, exploring depression, therapy, self-love,
and relationships, all in a poetic manner. Ray Pelletier and Melanie Brunet are neighbors
in Paris. They must be in their early thirties. They walk past each other on a bridge, take
the same train to work and do groceries from the same store. But they don’t know each
other. Never say hello. Never notice each other. Melanie is a research scientist in
an oncology lab, looking at histology slides and carrying biochemical tests. Ray stocks
boxes in a big warehouse. We see them on adjacent seats on the train
to work. Both of them look pale and colorless. Melanie yawns while working in the laboratory.
She tells her colleague about her disturbed sleep pattern. She has been oversleeping lately.
This worries her. Her colleague thinks it might be a sign of some mental illness. Melanie
doesn’t agree. Ray learns he and his colleagues are being
replaced by robots to do the job. So many of them will be fired. Someone he knows in
the warehouse has found a way to keep Ray in the job and also get him promoted. Ray
doesn’t look happy. He sits in the locker room silently listening to his colleagues
talking about getting fired and cursing the robots.
At the off time, we see them traveling back home on the same train. Same melancholy on
their faces. They reach their flats. Ray grabs his beer and comes out on the balcony. Melanie
comes to her balcony holding an apricot. Their balconies are side by side, open to rail tracks
in front and high buildings of Paris. Today Ray is supposed to meet the HR director
from the warehouse. It is an interview for a promotion. The director asks him to define
himself in one word. Ray doesn’t know how to answer that. He talks incoherently and
gesticulates. The director suggests the one word to be ‘bubble’, seeing Ray form a
bubble with hand gestures. Ray is offended at the director for saying he is a bubble.
The director is regretful and proceeds to the next question, asking Ray if he will choose
to be a leader or follower in his position. Ray isn’t making any sense with his answers.
Meanwhile, Melanie is running the tests when she overhears his seniors talking. One of
them says he doesn’t find Melanie qualified enough to do a certain task. Melanie sees
her coming to talk to her. He says she will be presenting her research findings to some
board members and donors. Melanie looks nervous. She says she isn’t qualified enough for
such an important task, the exact words he had used in discussion outside. The senior
says she can do it. Melanie nods in agreement. Both are in a pharmacy. Melanie is here to
buy pills so that she can sleep less. Ray wants pills so that he can sleep properly.
Later that night, Melanie takes her pill and sits in her bed to read her study material.
She is yawning in no time and falls asleep. Ray has taken his pill and lies down to sleep.
But he can’t, so he stays awake till morning. He is on the train to work. A little girl
is looking his way and smiling sweetly. He returns her smile. All of a sudden he feels
dizzy and collapses. Passengers have gathered around him. Medical care arrives. He has opened
his eyes and says he is okay. He is taken to the hospital. The doctor says he looks
okay. And asks if he is under any kind of stress. Ray says none as such. The doctor
asks about family and work. Ray looks faded and his speech is full of pauses but he keeps
saying that all is okay. The doctor senses something and suggests he visit a psychotherapist.
Ray is sitting in the waiting area outside a psychotherapist’s office, JB Meyer. Ray
looks at other patients. Silent, lost, looking out of their element. Meyer calls for Ray.
Ray enters the office. It is a very institutional, unwelcoming and to-the-point room. Meyer pulls
out a seat for himself to sit face to face in front of Ray. He has taken out a notepad
and a pen and looks at Ray. The silence between the two is deafening. Ray seeing Meyer waiting
for him to say something says he doesn’t know. Meyer says he is the one who is going
to speak first. Ray says he finds it incomprehensible that just talking to a therapist can help
him sleep well. Meyer says yes, that is one outcome. Expressing the pain can make it easier
to handle. Ray scoffs. He says he isn’t crazy. It is because his doctor asked him
to talk to someone. Meyer says he is that someone. Ray asks again if therapy can really
do what sleeping pills do. Meyer says had his sleeping pill helped him, he wouldn’t
be here. Meyer asks Ray about the panic attack he had. Ray says he doesn’t know why it
happened and asks if it is because of depression. Meyer asks if he feels depressed. Ray always
looks flustered and out of words when asked a question. He says he doesn’t know if he
feels depressed, it is just that he is alone. Ray changes his sentence quickly from ‘I
am alone’ to ‘ I reside alone.’ Meyer asks him to describe how he feels lately.
Ray asks if it should be in one word and says ‘a bubble.’
Melanie is also meeting a therapist. She is in her office, a cozy one with a sofa divan,
drapes, and floral-painted walls. Her therapist shakes Melanie’s hand warmly and invites
her to take a seat across from her desk. Melanie is in tears talking about George, her ex-boyfriend.
They were together for three years until a year ago when he broke up with her. Melanie
wonders if it is because her father abandoned her mother when Melanie was a child. These
two devastating events are interlinked in her depressed head. She whimpers while talking
about it. She says it is difficult to be happy without him. The therapist asks her if it
is her father or George she is referring to. Melanie says she doesn’t care about her
father. She hardly sees him. The therapist lights up a cigarette and talks while blowing
the smoke. She says to Melanie that she deserves to be happy and to fall in love again. Comprehending
a problem may not always solve the problem but as a starter, Melanie needs to comprehend
the problem. The above two scenes are shown running parallel
to each other. Beautiful knitting. We see both of them returning home after therapies.
They are lost in thoughts. Ray enters a store he usually shops at. He
grabs a sauce jar. The shopkeeper standing at the checkout comes to him quickly and suggests
him another sauce. Ray smiles and says it is more expensive. The shopkeeper says it
is better as well. The shopkeeper of this store knows how to sell and what to sell.
He knows his customers and their tastes. He has customized recommendations for each of
them. Ray leaves with his sauce and Melanie enters the store for olives. The shopkeeper
tells her that high-priced olives are the best ones. She says she will take the best
ones then. Ray has called his parents but it turns out
to be a very difficult conversation. Although it could have been very simple. Ray asks them
to put Laurent on the phone, his brother may be. Laurent suggests he be on Facebook to
befriend people. Melanie is also on call. With her friend.
She says Melanie should join social media and sign up on dating sites because her therapist
was implying this. She needs to meet new men. Ray sits on his bed with his laptop and starts
making his Facebook account. Meanwhile, Melanie has her two friends over at her place who
are helping her create and use an account on a dating site. She will go through men’s
profiles and click ‘like’ on which one she likes. If that guy ‘likes’ her back,
they can chat and plan a meetup. Ray received a friend request from a guy named
Mathieu Bernard last night, who claimed to be Ray’s school-mate. And now they are meeting
each other in a cafe. Mathieu is talkative and a crazy one. He is recalling every insignificant
memory of school-life in an attempt to help Ray remember him. Ray isn’t sure if he knows
him from school. Mathieu insists that they have been school-friends for sure. Mathieu
has drawn the attention of the entire cafe with his loud talk. Mathieu says he was known
as a ‘hard drive’ for remembering every tiny detail. Now Ray remembers.
In his next session with Meyer, Ray sits unable to tell anything about himself. Meyer is looking
at him, waiting for him to speak. Ray doesn’t think there is anything interesting about
him. Melanie is going through profiles on dating
apps. She finds one who looks cute. There she is meeting him. He sits there, saying
nothing at all. He just laughs a bit and clinks his glass with hers. All he said was that
she is the one he needed all his life. Melanie cringes.. Afterwards, her experience has her
friend in fits of laughter. Her friend asks why didn’t Melanie just leave, seeing him
not worthy of time. Melanie says she couldn’t. She is too courteous to prioritize herself.
Melanie, in her next session, discusses this with her therapist. Her problem of pleasing
other people. Her habit of never being able to say no. The therapist says a weakness can
turn out to be a strength at times. Melanie says it was her being nice all the time that
ruined her love-life. She loved George insanely. Never said no to him in any matter. She worshiped
him and considered herself nothing in front of him. With him, life was a fairytale. He
cherished her, and she was passionate until it all started waning. Their daily routines
and the reality of life got in the way. George had no place for her anymore. And it has been
a year of constantly ruminating over good times and crying. The therapist says Melanie
should let herself know that it is over and grieve in that context. Melanie doesn’t
want to forget George. The therapist says she doesn’t need to forget a sad memory.
Grieving is about accepting the sadness but not letting it burden you.
It is Christmas time. Catherine Brunet, Melanie’s sister, is going to see their mother. She
has dropped by to convince Melanie for one last time to come along with her. Their mother
resides in Amiens with her new husband. Melanie doesn’t talk to or meet her. Melanie says
she could have come to meet them in Paris if she wanted. Catherine says Melanie will
be alone on Christmas so she should just come. Melanie is adamant about staying back. Catherine
says she isn’t looking for herself lately and she should seek help from a therapist.
Melanie says she is already doing that and it is helping.
As for Ray, he has gone to spend Christmas time with his family in the countryside. He
has a large family. Everyone has gathered at his parents. Everyone greets Ray and asks
how he is. But nobody stops to hear his answer. Ray looks like a gray hue among a rainbow.
He is mute. There is life around him but he fails to cope. Finally, his father asks him
again how he is. Ray says he is depressed and is seeing a therapist. The elders at the
table fall silent and look at him. His mother says he isn’t a lunatic to see a therapist.
Ray tries to make her understand that depression isn’t about going nuts. It can be a lurking
sadness, a mental state and a tough phase. After dinner, they go out to hike on hills.
Snow has covered everything. There is a cemetery on the other side of the hill. Ray wants to
go there but his parents never go there. They don’t let anybody from the family go there.
Back in Paris, Melanie is at the store for organic eggs. At the checkout, the shopkeeper
hands them a flier. It is about a kompa class. Melanie is in the club, dancing to music with
her friends. And then she stops. Gets out, goes home and smokes on her balcony. Ray has
taken his pills and comes to stand on his balcony. Melanie’s cigarette smoke is coming
in his direction. Ray wakes up from a nightmare, a disturbing
dream where he is stuffed inside a box in a warehouse and robots are working there.
Ray gets up to answer the door knock. A neighbor is there to ask him to adopt an extra cat
her daughters have. Ray refuses but she thrusts the cat into his arms. The cat’s cuteness
melts him and he takes it. He plays with it and gets cat-food from the store. The good
one, based on the store owner's recommendation, of course.
Melanie is in the bathtub lip syncing to a sad song. Ray hears it through the thin wall.
He feels attracted to the lyrics and melody. Ray plays it. Melanie hears the same song
being played on the other side of her wall. She is confused and amused at such a coincidence.
Ray sees the cat trying to get out of the window. He pulls it back inside and asks it
to stay with him. The next day, Melanie and Ray walk past each
other on a bridge. Melanie is practicing her presentation with
her colleague who asks her to take it easy. There are still two months until then. Melanie
is anxious since there are going to be almost thirty people in front of her to listen to
her presentation. Ray has found a job at a call center. It is
his first day and he is taking his first call under a senior’s supervision. There is an
old lady on the line who doesn’t know her order details. Ray is kind and pays attention
to her irrelevant talks. His supervisor instructs him to stay focused. He finds a lively and
sociable girl in his workplace, Jenna. They are having lunch together at work. She says
men are of three types. Nice but uninteresting like a chicken nugget. Attractive but dominating
like hamburgers. And the third type is cheeseburgers who are modest and sensitive. She says Ray
is a cheeseburger and she likes cheeseburgers. Ray smiles. Jenna wonders why he talks so
little. He says it is only because of his sleeplessness.
Ray names his cat ‘Nugget’ and plays with it all day after work. He kisses it, trains
it to its new name and chats with it. He watches dance videos on his laptop with Nugget. He
wakes up the next day and can’t find Nugget anywhere.
He is in a session with Meyer. He thinks Nugget must have been hit by a car and expired. He
blames himself for this. Meyer asks him what makes him so sure that Nugget has really met
an accident. He should train himself to think positively. Meyer goes on to tell Ray that
he is suffering from depression. Thankfully it isn’t a clinical one. Meyer asks what
Ray felt after the cat disappeared. Ray says he feels he is some sort of bad luck. Meyer
says he wants Ray to think about events that made him reach that opinion of him and be
back for the next session. He also asks Ray to spend time with Jenna besides work. Ray
is afraid that he will let her down. Meyer asks him to have some faith in himself.
In parallel to the above-mentioned scene, we see Melanie finding Nugget near dustbins
outside the building. She pats it and says she would have adopted it, if only she hadn’t
been a sad person and so busy. She goes upstairs to her flat, thinks of something and then
comes down to pick up Nugget. Ray has invited Jenna to his place tonight.
Jenna is standing outside his building. We see Melanie pass by on her way to the store.
She is going to get cat-food. Jenna enters Ray’s flat. He gives her beer. She looks
around at his place. There is a dance video paused on his laptop. She plays it and asks
Ray if he likes dancing. He says he likes to watch it. There are charts and models of
vehicle engines in his room. He says he is a nerd about engines and motors. He explains
to her how a combustion engine works. She listens keenly as he talks passionately about
engines. They are squatting near models talking. Jenna loses her balance and places her hand
on Ray’s knee for support. Ray looks at her and leans in to kiss her. She steps away
and says she is leaving. Ray apologizes. She leaves.
Melanie is lying on the divan and talking about her online dating experiences to her
therapist who has dragged a seat near the divan. Melanie says it has become so easy
to meet people through online sites but she feels she doesn’t want any of that now.
She is acting like George, meeting many men and socializing a lot. The therapist asks
if she really had a deep connection with George. Melanie asks what is her definition of a deep
connection. The therapist answers: Deep connection isn’t a planned one. It just happens. Online
social sites provide instant gratification but not a real, meaningful connection. The
therapist says Melanie needs someone who can build that kind of connection with her.
Melanie wakes up from a nightmare. She has a lot of guys from dating sites gathered at
her place and out of nowhere her mother arrives. Melanie wakes up to answer the door. Catherine
is here to see her. She wants Melanie to meet her boyfriend, Amaury. Melanie is too preoccupied
with her presentation speech to listen to Catherine. Melanie keeps practicing it with
her sister and then her colleague. The funding for her research lab depends on her.
In parallel, Jenna apologizes to Ray for behaving unreasonably last night. Ray says it is fine.
She says everything got confusing but she did want him to kiss her. Ray is confused.
Jenna asks her to meet at a place tonight. He looks happily willing for it.
Later that night, he reaches the address Jenna told him. It is a dancing class. He sees her
through the door glass, dancing and enjoying. He smiles and wants to join. He extends his
arm to turn the knob but retreats and comes back to his flat. He instead watches funny
and cute videos of cats on his laptop. Tomorrow is the big day for Melanie. She tries
to grab some sleep but can’t. She starts going through profiles again and ends up inviting
a guy, Stevey, over to her place. They make love and drink too much. Melanie realizes
that she has to be up early. She asks Stevey politely that he should leave. She throws
up on the floor, runs to the bathroom and throws up more. Stevey answers Catherine’s
call on her phone. He tells her that Melanie isn’t feeling well. Catherine is having
dinner with Amaury. She comes running to Melanie’s place with him. They ask Stevey to leave.
Melanie wants Amaury to leave as well. She then drags Melanie into the shower and puts
her into bed. She stays with her till morning, wakes her up, and goes to the research center
with her. She forces her to drink maximum coffee. It is going to be her presentation
in a few minutes. And she does well. She delivers her findings confidently. She adds a personal
touch at the start of her presentation. In fact, her starting line is what her therapist
said: A weakness can be a strength. This evening, Melanie and Ray are in the store
at the same time. The shopkeeper is guiding Melanie in choosing the best rice. Ray, in
the other aisle, stands to listen to the shopkeeper making interesting and convincing suggestions.
Ray picks up the same type of rice in his cart. The shopkeeper is impressed by Ray’s
choices. The best, the pricey, the classy. The shopkeeper gives him the flier for kompa
classes. Ray and Melanie wake up to ambulance sirens
and noise. A building nearby has caught fire. People are being evacuated. A fireman wraps
a blanket around a little girl who is crying. The fireman asks her if she is okay. She gives
a sad smile with tears flowing and nods, saying she is okay. Ray is looking at her and we
see he is truly concerned. He looks upset. A burned man is on a stretcher, being dragged
out of the building. The little girl and her mother start crying at his sight. It is her
father. The firemen say that he is alive and needs to be hospitalized. The mother hugs
the little girl and both of them weep. We see tears roll down from Melanie’s eyes.
She and Ray are standing in the crowd near each other. They look distressed as if this
is their pain. Melanie weeps, telling her therapist that
she felt sad for the little girl crying for her father. She might not see him again. It
brought memories to Melanie. The time when her father left them. She also wept like that
little girl because she feared she would never see her dad again. The therapist asks why
she doesn’t go to meet her father. Melanie says he has his life with his new wife in
the USA. The therapist points out that Melanie justifies her father’s behavior but doesn’t
forgive her mother. Melanie says she doesn’t know why she dislikes her mother more than
her father. She does acknowledge that she has been a responsible mother in bringing
her up. Ray weeps, telling Meyer that the little girl
reminded him of his deceased sister. The girl was petrified but smiled when the fireman
asked her if she was okay. Cecile was seven years old when she was diagnosed with cancer.
Ray was ten then. On her last day, she gave a smile to Ray. Since then Ray feels guilty
about being alive while Cecile had to leave. He started thinking he is bad luck. Meyer
says it is the very reason he left the warehouse job because he blamed himself for his colleagues
getting fired. Meyer says he deserves to be happy and alive. Ray smiles. A liberating
smile. A look of serenity is on his face. JB Meyer is having his retirement party. Melanie’s
therapist is also there. Meyer skips away to sit in his therapy room and closes his
eyes. He recalls what his patients tell him, their pains, their fears, their eccentricities.
The scattered things they say before they finally express the original pain hidden deep
inside of them. Melanie’s therapist comes following him and sits with him. He tells
her that it will be hard for him to see his last patient tomorrow. He isn’t sure if
his practice has done any good. Ray visits his parents and sits with them
to talk about Cecile. They say it is past and they better not go there. He says no,
they should go there. They should grieve over her. It has taken a toll on him. They should
have talked about it, cried over it and let it out. Ray gets up and goes to the cemetery
his parents always forbade him to go to. He sits beside Cecile’s grave. His parents
have come there too. Meyer doesn’t know that he had lessened three people’s pain.
His practice definitely had done good. We aren’t aware of the positive changes we
make with kindness and small actions. Melanie says she is afraid that people will
not like her if they know she is seeing a shrink. Her therapist says she has to be herself
if she wants an honest and healthy relationship. She needs to be kind to herself and resolve
her issues before worrying about others’ opinions of her.
Meyer asks Ray to do things and be with people without any fear. Ray thanks him. Meyer had
Ray as his last patient. Melanie’s gait is gay now. She smiles. She
has called her mother who is surprised but happy. Ray’s cheeks have color in them now.
He walks like a living being and smiles often. He does well at indoor rock climbing now.
Ray is at the kompa class. Melanie is there too. They are paired up to dance. The synchronization
and the parallel happenings of their lives in Paris have come to a beautiful amplified
result.