Fugue, Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s second film, is the mental state of its Polish protagonist Alicja (Gabriela Muskała). An amnesiac who assaults a police officer, she avoids jail time by going live on television. That appearance gets someone to call in, claiming that she’s his daughter, a family’s missing piece. Alicja’s real name is Kinga Slovik, daughter to a mother (Halina Rasiakówna) as well as a wife. Her husband, Krzysztof (Łukasz Simlat), also welcomes her, but he seems to do so as a formality. Kinga, still, tries to be in the same space as Krzysztof and their son Daniel.

The bonding works to a certain extent, as Kinga and Krzysztof find enough intimate spark. But that spark may not last long. She starts responding when Krzysztof calls her Alicja instead of Kinga. Krzysztof takes this as a sign of her growing alienation, that she doesn’t want to return to her old life. Kinga remembers flashes and pieces of the time she lost. Will she ever rebuild the pieces of those missing two years of her life where she left her ‘happy’ family? And is there something that Krzystof is not telling her as to why she wanted to disappear in the first place?

A film tangentially about memory, Fugue is a departure from Smoczyńska’s first film The Lure, which was uneven but fun. This film aims to be the opposite of fun, as Alicja keeps losing her mind after reuniting with her family. Credit to Muskala for fleshing out Alicja’s mental state, able to do so even in shots where she’s far away. How does one choose to walk away from one’s family again and feel the agony of an unconscious, uncontrolled loss? But even with her hard work, she can’t provide energy for a film that chooses to lock away its potential. 

Muskala does double duty in Fugue as both its lead actress and its screenwriter, and she’s better at the former. The film’s third act and its flashbacks and reveals borrows from David Lynch, which can be forgivable depending on circumstance. But the cinematography here is too dark for viewers to appreciate attempts to make it feel like a bad trip. It also doesn’t feel like the reveal of Kryzsztof’s version of events right after Kinga’s disappearance adds to the film. The ending isn’t so bad here but the film shows us a lot of nothing before we finally get there.