US filmmaker Lance Hammer’s remarkable debut, Ballast, premiered in 2008 – so long ago that it was possible for it to garner him the Best Director Award at Sundance and go on to take part in the Berlinale’s Competition. Now he’s back in the same section of the German festival with his sophomore feature, Queen at Sea, a difficult, thought-provoking and deeply emotional drama on dementia and its consequences on those affected, but even more so on how it affects the caregivers.

In London, Amanda (Juliette Binoche, as nuanced and dedicated as ever) and her teenage daughter Sara (Florence Hunt, from Bridgerton, excellent in a role more important than it might initially seem) walk in on Amanda’s elderly mother Leslie (Anna Calder-Marshall, last seen on the big screen in Leo Leigh’s Sweet Sue [+leggi anche:
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Amanda is shocked, but not because of the uncomfortable scene itself. Leslie has dementia, and she is worried about her ability to give consent, so she calls the police. Now the machine is in motion, and the “incident” is treated as a crime, with forensics experts in hazmat suits packing up the bedsheets, Leslie being taken to a fraught medical examination and Martin briefly getting detained.

Martin, of very sound mind, argues that many psychologists, contrary to Leslie’s GP, claim that physical intimacy is beneficial for dementia patients. There is no doubt about the old couple’s closeness and love, and especially Martin’s dedication, with their daily walks, sharing meals and his patient way of treating her. But Amanda and a social worker decide that it’s best to place Leslie in a short-term care home as a test, especially as the couple’s bedroom is on the second floor, and the stairs are fairly steep. Martin protests but grudgingly goes along with it.

The landing between the floors is the physical and emotional crossroads of this situation, and DoP Adolpho Veloso frames the characters at the edges, with too much or too little room around them, accentuating the disorientation. It’s a terra incognita, of sorts: how to strike a balance between protecting a vulnerable person and robbing them of their agency, if they can’t communicate their needs?

Communication is one of the key themes, also reflected in Sara’s budding relationship with a boy and how teenagers go about such things. Focus shifts in intimate close-ups during dialogue scenes, especially coupled with the bright image with washed-out colours and a constantly grey sky in the background, highlight the finely nuanced performances and heart-rending interplay of Calder-Marshall and Courtenay, co-stars since a 1960s stage production of Hamlet.

Hammer’s own editing is key in the representation of dementia: a split second too little or too much of the actress’s wide-eyed confusion or the actor’s trembling chin can mean a world of difference between realism and sentimentalism. The painfully sparse piano-and-strings score also shifts within this delicate balance, and tears and defensive detachment are equally valid emotional audience responses. But it’s the ethical questions the film tackles that are in fact the most pertinent ones.

Queen at Sea is a co-production between the UK’s The Bureau and Los Angeles-based Alluvial Film Company. The Match Factory has the international rights.