Oublier Cheyenne

After a year of unemployment and fruitless job-searching, a despairing and frustrated Cheyenne (Mila Dekker) has decided "to go off the grid," as they say. Unable to pay her bills, she heads out on her bike to make her way in the world, sans the conveniences of modern life and a place to live. In fact, at this point, her disdain for society and all things related to 20th and 21st Centuries technology has become a sort of religion to her. Unfortunately, in order to follow this strict belief system, Cheyenne has to leave Sonia (Aurelia Petit), her girlfriend of several years, who is unable to bring herself to quit her secure job as a well-liked high school science teacher and join Cheyenne in her ascetic lifestyle. Further complicating matters is that, though an avowed lesbian, Sonia is also involved with Pierre (Malik Zidi), a good-natured lad who is deeply in love with Sonia and who wants her to have his baby.

The screenplay by Cecile Vargaftig and director Valerie Minetto is distinguished by the fact that Sonia keeps drifting in and out of reality, as the various people in her life suddenly appear on the scene and have imaginary conversations with one another. Yet, somewhat inexplicably, this conceit is dropped not too long into the film.

On the positive side, "Looking for Cheyenne" displays a sensitivity towards its characters and an understanding of the complexities of human relationships, but the unfocused storytelling, unconvincing resolution, and overall dour mood keep it from being as emotionally compelling as we would like it to be.

The movie earns points for being willing to explore how the recent economic downturn has affected the people of France, though the programmed sociopolitical diatribes that the characters occasionally break out into get to be a bit much after awhile.