Tribeca Review: A Wandering Librarian in “Darkest Miriam”

By Abe Friedtanzer 

Librarians make for interesting protagonists because they spend most of their waking hours in a place where silence is meant to be upheld but surrounded by such vast troves of knowledge. Temperaments can vary, and some may prefer to remain quiet while others will eagerly engage visitors in warm conversation or ply them with recommendations about what to read next. Darkest Miriam presents a character who tends towards the former, chattering nonstop in her head but sharing very little of that with the world… 

Miriam (Britt Lower) works in the Toronto Public Library system in a remote branch that is hardly in tip-top shape. She’s drowning in grief and not turning to anyone for support, and she begins to find letters scattered throughout her branch with threatening tones applicable both to the world and, inexplicably, to her personally. At the same time, Miriam meets Janko (Tom Mercier), a friendly cab driver who might just be the point of contact she needs to reengage with the world.

Darkest Miriam is based on Martha Baillie’s novel The Incident Report and comes from director Naomi Jaye, with Charlie Kaufman on board as an executive producer. This certainly is an odd specimen, one that doesn’t fit neatly into any genre. Its title suggests that its main character may have multiple personalities, the most intriguing of which could be this “darkest” version referenced. While she does keep her innermost thoughts to herself and speak to others with a different tone than the audience hears when she’s merely processing things, that reading isn’t realized quite as potently in the film. 

Audiences will be excited to see Lower, who masterfully enthralled them in season one of Severance on Apple TV+, which will soon be back for its second season. Her character Helly on that show is someone who specifically doesn’t know who she is when she’s not at work, and the way in which she interprets that confusion is absolutely fascinating. While she’s doing as much as she can with the role here, it’s not quite as deep or mesmerizing. She also turns in a best-in-show performance opposite John Magaro and Steve Buscemi in a different film showing at Tribeca this year, The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write about a Serial Killer.

The other noteworthy performer in this film is Mercier, who memorably carried Synonyms a few years ago. Mercier and Lower are well-paired as they explore a potential relationship, but this film never manages to figure out what it’s truly meant to be about, instead remaining fixated on a mystery that carries through without every truly resolving itself. There’s plenty of intrigue to be found en route to a middling finish that doesn’t feel nearly as emphatic or resounding as it should. C+

Darkest Miriam makes its world premiere in the Viewpoints section at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.