WHAT IF (Linda Gasser, 2017), ironically, is about the eradication of questions and the overabundance of answers. In Gasser’s film, romance is now arranged through big data. There are no chance meetings, funny first date stories, or wild, unpredictable romances. In this (semi) utopia, a young man named Achille feels that he needs spontaneity and chance in his romance. His mother is frustrated with his refusal to be set up with his match the “traditional” way, he insists on falling in love, or, more specifically, meeting through a romantic encounter. His attempts to capture that spontaneity go awry, however, when he steals a woman’s purse, kidnaps her, and locks her in his basement apartment. While he eventually lets her go, its ambiguous as to whether or not she eventually succumbs to Stockholm syndrome.
The film’s pastel tones and tinny music—the sets resemble nothing so much as the original Star Trek’s other planets with gorgeous alien hipsters and oddly blocky furniture—are eerily disturbing, but not as disturbing as the young man who insists on love through violence. In a world in which the old tropes of the rom-com are beginning to fall flat, the chase that appeared wildly romantic generations earlier now seems much more like stalking. Achille sees his insistence and dedication to this woman he just met as wildly romantic—she, on the other hand, is disturbed and even terrified.
The film’s biggest issue, however, lies in its ambiguity. While its gestures toward the importance of random chance are very interesting, it seems to be unsure if it sympathizes with Achille or not. While the film ostensibly has a happy ending, in truth, it may make the viewer long for a future time in which all romantic feelings are catalyzed through big data. At least then, perhaps people can avoid those felonies that seem to arise out of a meet-cute scenario.