The Canadian drama Darkest Miriam opens today in select theaters. Set in Toronto, it stars Britt Lower (Severance) as librarian Miriam Gordon. She leads children’s programs, helps visitors, and sorts books – the usual tasks of a librarian.
She finds odd things around the library, including a set of dentures, which are quickly grabbed out of her hands by a threatening female patron, and even more disturbing, a book that has been masturbated on. She fills out incident reports that always end with "No action taken." Her mundane life is interrupted when she begins to receive vaguely threatening notes in books while putting them back on shelves.
Lonely since her father’s death, she meets a man (Tom Mercier) while sitting on the benches outside the library. A cab driver and a budding artist, he invites her to his apartment to see his paintings, which are extremely dark in nature, with no discernable figures or objects in them. As time goes on and they begin to have feelings for each other, he confides in her that he wants children, but Miriam reveals she doesn’t want any. She also tells him that she doesn’t "see" him having children, which greatly upsets him.
The movie is artistic and dark, but heartfelt, while offering the audience quirky characters in offbeat situations.
3 out of 5 stars.
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