The Heart of Mrs. Sabali
Cineplex Odeon
Saturday, Feb. 6
Rating: Three stars
The symbolic title is one of many ingredients that reflect the playfully absurd nature of Montrealer Ryan McKenna’s visually dazzling seriocomedy about a bored middle-aged woman whose life is turned upside down after she has a heart transplant. If it takes a while for us to warm to Marie Brassard as a train ticket-seller who leaves her callous, sex-resistant boyfriend and hooks up with an attentive admirer, we’re soon pulled in by McKenna’s whimsy. The film moves into overdrive once his protagonist is affected by her murdered donor’s spirit. This stylized, at times dreamlike diversion’s quirkiness and eye-popping art direction, heavy on bold reds and yellows, transcends the narrative hiccups.