Our Private Lives by Denis Coté November 12, 2011

Three years before Catfish, Canadian Director Denis Côté was already exploring that most modern of romances: The online affair. Our Private Lives tells the story of a Bulgarian couple (played by real-life Bulgarian couple Anastassia Liutova and Penko Gospodinov) who decide to meet in person for the first time after a lengthy Internet liaison. True to form for Côté, they meet in an isolated cabin in rural Quebec. In this stunning exploration of loneliness and intimacy, Côté employs every trick of guerrilla filmmaking. The minimalist aesthetic forces attention to the lovers’ relationship, and their desperate longing for companionship in a vast and empty landscape. Liutova and Gospodinov’s chemistry intensifies every push and pull as their insulated experience becomes vulnerable to eerie intrusions from the outside world.