Fingernails

A teacher takes a job at an institute preparing couples for a love compatibility test in Fingernails. A new test has gained popularity, which tests the compatibility of couples by scanning their fingernails. Anna (Jessie Buckley) and her boyfriend Ryan (Jeremy Allen White) are one of the lucky couples who scored 100% on the test. However, Anna is apprehensive about whether she is truly compatible with Ryan. Anna ends up accepting a teaching job at a Love Institute run by Duncan (Luke Wilson), the goal of which is to help couples feel closer to each other before taking the test. Anna begins shadowing fellow instructor Amir (Riz Ahmed), a man she steadily feels much more compatible with.

Fingernails Synopsis

Fingernails is a sci-fi-tinged romantic drama co-written and directed by Greek filmmaker Christos Nikou. The film stars Jessey Buckley (Men) as a teacher who is beginning to grow about whether she is as compatible with her boyfriend Ryan, played by Jeremy Allen White (The Bear), as reported by the controversial compatibility test. Anna begins to find kinsmanship with Amir, played by Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), her fellow instructor at the local Love Institute. Despite telling his co-workers he’s in a loving relationship with a woman named Natasha (Annie Murphy), Anna senses a loneliness in Amir and she begins to develop a connection with him that she doesn’t have with Ryan.

My Thoughts on Fingernails

The pseudoscience behind the love compatibility test in Fingernails is based on the hypothesis that heart symptoms first manifest themselves in the fingernails. However, despite involving the very violent act of forcibly removing couples’ fingernails with a pair of pliers, the actual test itself seems not all that different from conventional computer matchmaking, giving results of either 0%, 50%, or 100% compatibility. However, it is stated by Luke Wilson’s Love Institute head, Duncan, that the test results are being taken very seriously, leading to a desire by couples to learn how to become closer to themselves and score higher.

However, the hypothesis of the plot of Fingernails is that the results of a computer don’t mean much when compared to interpersonal chemistry. Indeed, the film includes hints that the test is not as objective as it may seem, as younger couples in their 20s seem more likely to score higher on the test than older or even same-sex couples, the latter of which actually results in the computer breaking down. As Anna begins to have doubt about her relationship with Ryan, she begins finding greater kinship between her and Amir.

While Fingernails is fine enough as an indie romance, the plot is bogged down somewhat by the confusing science over the love compatibility test and how or why society has taken its results as gospel. The world would definitely be a less interesting place if a number decided all relationships on a computer. In many ways, that is exactly what Fingernails is about.