This film felt a lot like a contemporary A Christmas Carol - except with so many more “ghosts” and a focus on a couple on the brink of divorce. While it may seem like a heavy topic, the film was much more comedic than anything else.
On a Magical Night (Chambre 212)
Critic Rating
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- France,
- Belgium,
- Luxembourg
- 2019
- · 88m
Director
Christophe Honoré
Cast
Chiara Mastroianni,
Vincent Lacoste,
Camille Cottin,
Benjamin Biolay,
Carole Bouquet,
Marie-Christine Adam
Genre
Comedy,
Drama
After a big fight with her husband, Maria decides to spend the night in the hotel opposite their apartment. With a bird's eye view into her own home, she contemplates her marriage and her life. The ghosts of past lovers begin visiting her, forcing her to confront her own romantic history in this thoughtful comedy.
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80
Screen Daily by Allan Hunter
Beneath the impish, inventive surface of On A Magical Night lies real emotions around loyalty, devotion and how to ensure love never dies. It is a film as charming as it is touching.
67
IndieWire by David Ehrlich
On a Magical Night is a fanciful tale of marriage and its malcontents; a muted sex farce that unfolds like an overwhelmingly French twist on “A Christmas Carol” for people who are sick of their spouses.
67
The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
Despite its welcome breezy and surreal qualities, On A Magical Night has more psychological shortcuts than insights.
63
Movie Nation by Roger Moore
There’s a lot of fun mixed in with the somber assessments of a failed relationship. In the end, it’s too much to juggle or do justice to, and On a Magical Night is never quite “could this be the magic at last.”
60
The Hollywood Reporter by Stephen Dalton
Breezy and bright, with the stylized look and feel of a stage play, Honore’s bubbly bottle of cinematic champagne runs out of fizz somewhere around its midway point. Even so, there are still enjoyably shallow pleasures to be savored here.
60
The Guardian by Phil Hoad
Christophe Honoré, now edging into veteran status with his 12th film, once again steps up to the oche of desire and infidelity. But this peppy, flighty and self-involved film – a hybrid of marital drama, chamber piece, erotic farce and crypto-musical – hovers frustratingly outside the bullseye.
60
CineVue by Christopher Machell
As in thrall to its fantasy as its characters, On a Magical Night confuses what is admittedly a charming conceit for depth. Nevertheless, that charm is enough to sustain the picture across its 90-minute runtime, even if its effects quickly recede into memory.
50
RogerEbert.com by Tomris Laffly
The film offers some simple-minded insights into the myth of the happily-ever-after, and a dash of nonchalant French charisma. But the whole thing is only as original as a dull midlife crisis, retrofitted into a whimsical screwball mold that feels miscalculated.
50
The New York Times by Glenn Kenny
Despite the fantastic premise and the ostensibly comedic bits of business Honoré strews throughout (pay attention to the changing marquee of the cinema on the street where both Maria’s apartment and the hotel are), the movie’s treatment of its themes still too often lists toward a near-ponderous solemnity.
50
Slant Magazine by Diego Semerene
Christophe Honoré deposits all his chips on the comedic premise at the expense of character study and gravitas.
50
Variety by Owen Gleiberman
On a Magical Night is whimsically cute, provocative in a coy way, and more than a little in love with itself.
40
Austin Chronicle
Basically a meaner French version of schmaltzy Matthew McConaughey romcom "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" (itself one of the worst adaptations of A Christmas Carol) mixed with a French bedroom farce, On a Magical Night shackles itself, as if with Marley's chains, to a thoroughly unlikable protagonist.
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