Jessie Buckley's Underseen Apple TV Sci-Fi Movie With Riz Ahmed Needs Another Look

Love. It is, as Jack Jones croons at the outset of every "The Love Boat" episode, exciting and new — and he should know! Jones was married six times throughout his 86 years on this planet! As for what is love, according to German pop artist Haddaway, the answer is "Baby, don't hurt me ... no more," which I don't find particularly helpful. Playing the role of rock-and-roll advice columnist who ruined Van Halen, Sammy Hagar once tackled the question, "How do I know when it's love?" His reply? "I can't tell you, but it lasts forever." Not the most useful response I've ever heard.

If you want to get at the true meaning of love, you could always read Shakespeare, John Keats, or Norman Mailer, or you could turn to the movies, where, at least in romantic comedies, people find their true love via "meet cute" encounters. If, however, you want to get under the hood of love to see if the idea of lifelong soul mates holds water, Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is right there. The science fiction rom-com ultimately comes to a melancholy conclusion, but, in a perverse way, holds that heartbreak is its own reward.

Christos Nikou's "Fingernails," currently streaming on Apple TV, heads down a similar sci-fi route. His scenario revolves around a lab test where couples each submit a fingernail to determine whether or not they're meant for each other. Produced by Cate Blanchett, it boasts a terrific cast in Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White, and Luke Wilson. But while "Fingernails" received mixed-to-good reviews, it got lost in the 2023 awards season shuffle. Perhaps now's the time for the film to find its audience.

"Fingernails" opens years after the first go-round for this procedure produced a multitude of negatives, which caused the divorce rate to spike. Undeterred, a scientist named Duncan (Luke Wilson) has opened the Love Institute. He believes he's improved the procedure, and has hired people like Anna (Jessie Buckley) and Amir (Riz Ahmed), who've previously passed the test individually, to help his clients strengthen their relationships before submitting to the test. However, by working closely with each other, Amir begins to develop feelings for Anna, which raises the question: Can a person have two soul mates?

While Anna passed the test with her boyfriend Ryan (White), she begins to wonder if her own feelings for Amir are romantic. I won't spoil how this plays out, but you probably shouldn't be surprised that a film with a (somewhat tepid) romantic heart might question the possibility of using science to examine matters of the heart. To be clear, "Fingernails" is not a masterpiece in the mold of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," but it's intriguing enough. Mostly, it's worth watching for the pairing of mega-talents Buckley and Ahmed, who are so good together that some astute filmmaker should consider re-teaming them somewhere down the line (after Buckley wins her Oscar for "Hamnet").

Does "Fingernails" come to a definitive conclusion on the nature of love? I can't tell you, but it lasts 113 minutes.