The contrived way they reconnect a decade after their divorce starts things off on a wobbly note. Bennett’s Patricia is an American in England for some vague work trip. When her meeting never materializes, she heads to a boutique hotel inside a converted countryside estate. Complaining about how ugly her room is and comforting herself with sips of gin straight from the bottle, Patricia initially has just the slightest glimmers of being a Bridget Jones figure, but her portrayal never comes close to being so lovably hapless.
Just as she’s trying to settle in for an afternoon nap, she’s awakened by the insistent thump of dance music from downstairs. Of all the people in all the world practicing his DJ skills, it’s her ex-husband, Idris (Riley). Now sober, the former rock star runs the hotel with his girlfriend, Louise (Marisa Abela), a narcissistic aspiring actress whose personality consists of preening and flouncing. She also tries on clothes and dances in front of the mirror for long stretches before disappearing from the film entirely. But Louise does have a couple of amusing, passive-aggressive exchanges with her assistant, Kate (Rosa Robson), over what kinds of dishes the hotel should offer on its dinner menu. Not that it matters, though, because Patricia is literally the only guest staying there.
The majority of “She Is Love” follows Patricia and Idris as they awkwardly try to avoid each other around the sprawling estate, then awkwardly try to make small talk before awkwardly getting wasted and revisiting their past. (The fact she starts drinking again is apparently no big deal.) Their playful antics consist of fumbling about in the bathtub, smearing white makeup on each other, and running around the hotel pretending to be ghosts. Along the way, they exchange some would-be snappy banter—“You’re disgusting!” “You’re impossible!”—but the animosity is rushed and toothless.
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