“Fingernails”, interview with Christos Nikou

November 8, 2023

A futuristic romance that challenges the boundaries of human connection

"Fingernails", interview with Christos Nikou Federica Scarpa

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“Fingernails” is the second feature film by the Greek director Christos Nikou, which debuted at the 18th Rome Film Festival in the Grand Public section.

Setting the Scene

The film transports us to a peculiar and somewhat eerie future. Anna (played by Jessie Buckley) and Ryan (played by Jeremy Allen White) possess an authentic certificate validating their true love, thanks to a new and controversial technology. However, Anna remains uncertain about her emotions.

Anna decides to explore her doubts further by accepting a position at an institute promoting this unconventional love of technology. Here, she crosses paths with Amir (portrayed by Riz Ahmed).

Love Beyond Surface

Greek director Christos Nikou, known for the film “Apples“, makes his English-language debut with a tragicomic and dystopian story about human emotions that sheds light on the often undisclosed secret of romantic comedies: falling in love is the easy part while staying in love requires constant effort.

In an interview with FRED Film Radio, the director tells us why he decided to embark on this journey through the intricate web of human relationships and how the actors in his film, Jesse Buckley and Riz Ahmed, supported him by placing their complete trust in him.

Through songs and film references that also reveal much about Christos Nikou, “Fingernails” is poised to become a brief romantic treatise on what relationships should perhaps be today. Beyond representations, beyond the facades of modern society, love is still essentially a stolen glance, a hidden smile, a subtle gesture—small things that can still be more sensual than any blatant display.

“Fingernails” premiered globally on 3 November 2023 and is now streaming on Apple TV+.

Plot

Anna and Ryan are happily partnered, living together in uncomplicated bliss. In fact, they are a
perfect match – that is, according to the test that accurately determines whether a couple is in
love. In the alternate reality of “Fingernails,” couples examine their devotion at love institutes,
completing exercises to bring them closer together in advance of taking a test, using a new
technology, which requires each person to submit a fingernail to determine compatibility. Some
are without a doubt — a 100 percent score indicates the perfect match. Others who score 50 or
0 percent discover their relationship isn’t meant to be. But is it possible, even in a world of
dating algorithms, diagnostics, and data streams, to remove the risk from love entirely?
Anna isn’t quite so sure. She finds herself inexplicably drawn to taking a job at the institute to
explore the exercises that Ryan thinks are unnecessary, given their proven compatibility. There
she meets Amir, a diagnostician who claims he’s secure in his own relationship — except like
Anna, he isn’t. Against statistical odds the co-workers fall in love, throwing into question the
system that binds them and employs them.

Written by: Federica Scarpa

Christos Nikou Jeremy Allen White Jesse Buckley Riz Ahmed

Guest

Film

Fingernails

Festival

Festa del Cinema di Roma

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“Fingernails”, interview with Christos Nikou