Happy-Go-Mucky: Pinell Finds Purpose with a Woman in Transition
“No one ever wanted her forever,” is a partial description of the titular character in Gail Parent’s 1972 novel Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York, widely regarded as the Jewish gender inverse of Philip Roth’s 1969 novel Portnoy’s Complaint. Parent’s novel, and character descriptions, are strikingly similar to the eponymous Shana of Lila Pinell‘s latest feature, a young woman who finds herself in a comedic sort of maelstrom which might finally force her out of an era defined by questionable choices in life and love. It would seem no one wants her forever, but Shana is a woman still discovering what or whom she might actually want for herself. Reuniting with actor Eva Huault, who was also Shana in Pinell’s 2021 short Le roi David, the narrative is a familiar mechanism which amounts to a comedy of increasingly drastic errors.
Shana (Huault) is twenty-five-years-old but can’t seem to catch a break. Her forty-year-old boyfriend Moses (Sekouba Doucoure) is in prison after neighbors called the police on them during a heated argument, which means Shana is now responsible for selling drugs he needs to collect payment on. Her mother (Noémie Lvovsky) is hardly impressed with her daughter’s behavior, but some unprocessed trauma from the past might be responsible for their strained relationship. During her grandmother’s funeral, Shana might have reached her limit in balancing the clashing expectations from her family and boyfriend.
Without a doubt, Shana is a bit of a mess, and Pinell is not shy about exploring her outspokenness, often defined by a penchant for vulgarity. Flouncing around in a ratty Britney shirt with pink crocs, which she disguises with a blazer at one point for her younger sister’s Bat Mitzvah, her only constant is a state of unkemptness. Navigating her detached relationships with her family, which mostly includes Lvovsky’s (exceptional as usual) judgmental mom (who we learn abandoned Shana during her formative years due to some relationship issues), her fragile grandmother, and younger sister, Shana is decidedly ambivalent about her heritage. It would appear her views are due in part to her allegiance with Palestine, but also her own familial history, which includes an erasure of her grandmother’s Arabic roots.
Between aggravating family commitments, Shana’s own personal life is in something of a free fall. She’s chained to the needy boyfriend Moses, currently in prison for domestic abuse charges against her. The narrative’s comedic elements surface through Shana’s dogged commitment to selling Moses’ stash of cocaine while he’s serving time. But their tumultuous exchanges lead her to spend a large portion of the money, forcing her into a failed attempt at sex work and then, out of desperation, pawning her grandmother’s ring, a priceless family heirloom. Kooky side characters abound, including a pregnant client who insists cocaine is ‘super good for the baby.’
It’s unclear what, if anything, Shana learns from this intense period of chaotic experience, musing at long last about expanding her sexual relationships to include women. Based on her onerous introduction of combative attitudes towards anyone daring to challenge or criticize her, perhaps she has matured into something more of a contemplative human. DP Victor Zébo (Orlando, My Political Biography, 2023) marries metaphorical visual flourishes, such as bright red nail polish and church wine, to highlight the potential frivolousness of rituals defined by superficial gestures. Huault, who often feels akin to a screen presence such as Adele Exarchopoulos (especially in 2021’s Zero Fucks Given), shoulders the responsibility of carrying a familiar narrative quite effortlessly, often entertaining even when the narrative seems dead set on simply tossing her from one chaotic scenario to the next.
Reviewed on May 16th at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival (79th edition) – Directors’ Fortnight. 83 Mins.
★★½/☆☆☆☆☆
“Eva Huault…shoulders the responsibility of carrying a familiar narrative quite effortlessly, often entertaining even when the narrative seems dead set on simply tossing her from one chaotic scenario to the next.”
