Talila Baron

If you're expecting a dark version of "La La Land," you're in for a rude awakening. Unlike that movie, "Annette" is less concerned with plot and character development than the flow and mood created by the stunning, often impressionistic imagery. David Lynch comes to mind as images of  Anna (Marion Cotillard) singing famous arias are superimposed over Henry McHenry (Adam Driver) barreling down the dark highway on his motorcycle. Repeated images of fairy tale forests -- Anna's stage set in one of her operas, "The Forest," the couple's home hidden in a dark wood --  tip you off to an affair about to go very, very wrong. Many viewers will be put off by the use of a puppet, who plays their young child, Annette. But the director is using a convention from theatre that goes back thousands of years (puppets were sometimes used to act out The Iliad). In doing so, he rejects naturalism, using the puppet to heighten the sense of dread and unreality. Even though the songs are largely underwhelming, the film works as a surreal, complex, highly original rock opera.